Pianissimo

What it means

Pianissimo is the superlative form of piano and designates a very soft level. It is notated as pp. Below it lies pianississimo (ppp), above it piano (p); its counterpart on the loud side is fortissimo.

Like all dynamic markings, this one too is relative and is determined by the relation to the other levels of the piece and the scoring. A pp in an orchestral tutti is something different from one in a solo piece.

Decisive is that pianissimo is no invitation to vanish. The tone should carry and arrive in the room; what is no longer heard does not fulfil the marking. The effect arises from restraint, not from the absence of sound.

In the notation

The sign pp stands below the staff, for vocal parts above the text, and applies until the next marking. With subito it calls for a sudden change, with sempre for maintaining it over a longer stretch. At the end of a decrescendo it marks its goal point.

Musical use

Very soft levels create tension and attention: the listener turns toward the music instead of receiving it. In the Viennese Classical period, pp marks surprising reductions and mysterious transitions; in the Romantic era, whole sections of a restrained character. In the orchestra the effect additionally arises through thin scoring and muted manners of playing.

Pianissimo demands great control, especially with wind players and singers, whose tone easily breaks off at the softest level. It is notated with pp and often combined with tone-colour markings. In Romantic scores, gradations such as pppp also occur, for instance in Tchaikovsky and Verdi.

Performance practice

Keep the tone supported and the response secure — soft does not mean less control but more. Watch especially the intonation, which suffers first when playing quietly, and with winds the attack, which easily fails. Keep reserve toward the bottom, in case even softer levels follow. And check, in ensemble, whether the main voice is still audible over the soft accompaniment.