A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Teneramente
TENERAMENTE; CON TENEREZZA—'tenderly'; a term slightly stronger and used more emphatically than dolce, but having very much the same meaning and use in music. A good instance of the distinction between the terms is found in the lovely second movement of Beethoven's Sonata in E minor, op. 90, where the subject, at its first entry labelled dolce, is subsequently directed to be played teneramente. From the whole character of the movement it is evidently intended to become slightly more impassioned as it goes on; and it is generally understood that the second and following entries of the subject should be played with more feeling, and perhaps in less strict time, than the opening bars of the movement.
[ J. A. F. M. ]