Sehr
“Molto”, an intensifying word.
What it means
Sehr is the German intensifying word and corresponds to the Italian molto or assai. It is added to a tempo, performance, or dynamic marking and intensifies it: “very slow,” “very expressive,” “very soft.”
The word never stands alone. Its effect depends entirely on the term it intensifies and on what would be meant without the addition. “Very lively” lies distinctly above “lively,” “very calm” distinctly below it.
Within the framework of the German gradation words, sehr forms the upper pole. Below it lie the unintensified base word and the weakening additions etwas, ziemlich, or mäßig. As with the Italian additions, the gradation is not measurable but can only be determined in relation to the other markings of a work.
In the notation
The word stands together with the base word above the staff for tempo and performance markings, below the staff for dynamic markings. When a composer marks throughout in German, it takes the place of the Italian additions.
Musical use
German performance markings with graded additions become more frequent in the nineteenth century, as composers want to fix expression more precisely in their own language. Some composers mark whole works exclusively in German, often with long, carefully graded indications in which sehr plays a central role.
A telling example is Robert Schumann’s Kreisleriana, Op. 16, of 1838: six of its eight pieces carry sehr in their headings, from “Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch” to “Sehr rasch”. In his Ninth Symphony Gustav Mahler places German and Italian markings side by side, for instance “Allegro assai. Sehr trotzig” in the third movement and “Adagio. Sehr langsam und noch zurückhaltend” in the finale.
Performance practice
Relate the addition to the base word and compare with what would be meant without it: the intensification should be audible. With tempo markings, check whether the intensified tempo still holds at the densest passage. And keep the chosen degree consistent through the whole section, instead of showing it only at the beginning.