A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Lento

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A Dictionary of Music and Musicians
edited by George Grove

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From volume 2 of the work.

1584635A Dictionary of Music and Musicians — LentoGeorge GroveGeorge Grove

LENTO, i.e. 'slow,' implies a pace and style similar to a slow Andante. Beethoven rarely uses it. One example is in his last Quartet op. 135, Lento assai. Mendelssohn employs it for the introduction to his Ruy Bias overture, but he chiefly uses it, like 'con moto,' as a qualification for other tempos—as Andante lento (Elijah No. i, and Op. 35, No. 5), Adagio non lento (Op. 31, No. 3), Adagio e lento (Op. 87, No. 3).

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