A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Semplice

by J. A. Fuller-Maitland

SEMPLICE, 'simple'; a direction denoting that the passage so marked is to be performed without any adornment or deviation from the time, used particularly in passages of which the character might possibly be misunderstood. A curious instance occurs in Chopin's Rondo for two pianos, op. 73, where the second subject (in A minor) is inscribed 'Semplice senza ornamenti.' The lovely Arietta which forms the subject of the variations in Beethoven's last PF. Sonata, op. 111, is marked 'Adagio molto sernplice cantabile.'

[ J.A.F.M. ]