Rinforzando

What it means

Rinforzando comes from rinforzare, “to reinforce,” and calls for a strengthening of the sound. Abbreviated it appears as rf, rfz, or rinf. The reinforcement usually concerns a short group of notes, not only a single one.

The relation to sforzando is the most important distinction. Sforzando accents a single note or chord sharply and at a single point; rinforzando lets the sound grow over a short stretch. Compared with a crescendo, the stretch is shorter and the increase faster — what is meant is an emphasis within one figure, not a build-up across bars.

Reinforzando is a variant form of the same word and means the same thing.

In the notation

The abbreviation stands below the staff, for vocal parts above the text. It applies to the notes immediately following it, usually two to four; after that the previously indicated dynamic returns. Because the abbreviations rf and sf look similar and are printed unclearly in some editions, when in doubt a look at the musical context is worthwhile: if the marking stands over a figure, rinforzando is usually meant; over a single note, sforzando.

Musical use

The instruction brings out short turns: rising lines leading to a goal note, motif repetitions with growing emphasis, interjections in secondary voices. In the Viennese Classical period and the Romantic era it belongs among the stock of means with which phrases get their inner gradient, without the basic volume changing.

Unlike sforzando, it often applies to a group of notes. It is notated as rf or rfz and usually stands within a phrase.

Other names

Reinforzando is an older spelling variant; the abbreviation in both cases is rf or rfz.

Performance practice

Distribute the increase over the notes concerned and direct it toward the goal note. Avoid an accent on the first note; that is the most common confusion with sforzando. Return afterward to the previous level. And keep the tempo stable, so that the emphasis does not tip over into pressing forward.