Vivo

What it means

Vivo means “alive” and designates a lively tempo. It belongs to the same word family as Vivace and, in substance, means the same, but is less fixed: while Vivace has become established as a tempo grade between Allegro and Presto, Vivo remains more open and is used more as a character word.

This is why it stands especially often as an addition to another tempo word, for instance in Allegro vivo, where it intensifies the liveliness without setting a new grade. As an independent movement heading it is rarer than Vivace. Where both words occur side by side in a work, comparison lets one read off how the composer grades them — there is no general rule for this.

Vivacissimo is the superlative form within this word family.

In the notation

The marking stands in italics above the first staff of a movement or section, often after a base word. It can become part of the movement's name. Metronome numbers alongside it often come from the editor; precisely with the less fixed tempo words, editions diverge considerably from one another.

Musical use

The designation is used in movements with an alert character, in dance-like sections, and in finale movements. As an addition it specifies how a tempo is meant: an Allegro vivo should sound not only fast but perceptibly lively. In nineteenth- and twentieth-century music, this use as a character addition is the more common one.

Vivo calls for a lively, fresh performance. The marking is often understood as somewhat faster than vivace, but the boundaries are fluid. It often stands as allegro vivo. The combination allegro vivo is widespread.

Performance practice

Read the heading in full: if vivo stands after a tempo word, it changes above all the expression, not necessarily the speed. Keep the articulation light and short, for liveliness arises from it. Work out the points of weight in the bar and avoid uniform accentuation. If a passage seems rushed, pull back not the liveliness but the tempo — the two are not the same.