Tender

What it means

Zart is the German equivalent of delicato and calls for a careful, fine performance: a quiet tone, a soft attack, restrained accents, fine dynamic gradations.

What is meant is more than low volume. Delicacy arises from the manner of the attack and from restraint in all means. A quiet but hard playing does not fulfil the instruction.

Within the words for gentleness, the differences lie in the colouring. Süß means lovely softness, sanft mildness, zart fineness and fragility. Zart differs from leicht (light), which calls for weightlessness, in that it also applies in calm music, while lightness is mostly connected with movement.

In the notation

The word stands above the staff, in German-language editions in place of delicato, and holds until a new marking. It is often found together with soft dynamics, a high register, and a thin texture.

Musical use

The designation is used in songs, in lyrical piano pieces, in middle sections, and in passages whose effect arises from fineness. In nineteenth-century German-language music it is among the frequent performance words, often in combinations such as “sehr zart” (very gentle) or “zart und innig” (gentle and heartfelt).

String players play for this with little pressure near the fingerboard, pianists with a light touch, wind players with a soft attack.

Performance practice

Keep the tone supported: gentle means controlled, not powerless. Watch for a soft attack and avoid accents. Shape with very small dynamic gradations. Keep the line taut across every rest, since the tone must carry despite low volume and must not become brittle. And check in the room whether the fine details come across — what sounds differentiated at the instrument can get lost in the hall.