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Dynamics & Expression

Animato

Pronounced ah-nee-MAH-toh

Definition

Animato means 'animated': play with more life and energy, usually with a slight quickening of the tempo. Animando means becoming animated, gradually livelier.

Animato means "animated" or "lively". It asks for more life and energy, and in practice it usually brings a slight quickening of the tempo along with brighter, more active playing. It often marks the start of a new section, printed above the staff in italics.

A four-bar treble-clef melody in C major and 4/4. Bars 1 and 2, marked piano, have quarter and half notes; the word animato is printed above bar 3, where eighth notes begin, marked mezzo forte. The line ends on quarter notes D and C.
An original four-bar line. Bars 1 and 2 move calmly in quarter notes at p (♩ = 88); at animato in bar 3 eighth notes and mf bring the music to life, and the recording moves on to ♩ = 104.

Animato and its forms

  • Animato: animated, from this point on.
  • Poco animato: a little more animated.
  • Più animato: more animated still.
  • Animando: becoming animated, gradually, much like a gentle accelerando with growing energy.

Burgmüller's Ballade has an animato in the edition used for our Ballade study.

Animato versus più mosso

Più mosso is mainly a tempo instruction: faster, now. Animato is mainly about character: more alive, more energetic, and as a result usually a little faster. In practice they often lead to similar playing, but animato leaves more room for the change to show in dynamics, articulation and drive as well as speed.

Playing animato

Let the change be audible from the first note: a brighter tone, crisper rhythm, more forward motion. If you speed up, do it by a modest amount; animato that turns into a race loses its charm. Plan where the section ends, too, because a calmer tempo or Tempo I often follows.

Common questions

Does animato mean faster?

Usually a little, but mainly it means livelier: more energy, brighter tone and forward motion. The change of speed, if any, is modest.

Practice it: free worksheets