Meaning & use
vivacissimo
Last updated
Meanings
adverbnot comparablemusic
A direction in music telling players to perform very fast and with great liveliness.
Grammar: Appears in a score as a marking over a passage.
Patterns
- play something vivacissimo
The final bars were marked vivacissimo, so the violinists raced ahead.
The conductor asked the orchestra to play the finale vivacissimo.
In the score, the coda is vivacissimo.
adjectivebefore a nounmusic
Describing a passage of music played in an extremely quick and energetic style.
Grammar: Used about a passage or movement: a vivacissimo finale.
Patterns
- a vivacissimo passage
The vivacissimo section left the pianist breathless.
A vivacissimo coda ended the piece.
The vivacissimo opening startled the audience.
Common combinations
- marked vivacissimo
- The last page is marked vivacissimo.
- play vivacissimo
- The quartet played the finale vivacissimo.
- vivacissimo finale
- A vivacissimo finale closed the symphony.
- vivacissimo tempo
- The vivacissimo tempo is hard to keep steady.
Synonyms and how they differ
- vivace
- This is the base term meaning lively and fast, while vivacissimo is the superlative form and means very lively.
- presto
- This is a tempo instruction that means very fast, while vivacissimo adds a feeling of liveliness.
- allegro
- This means fast and cheerful and is much more common, but it is slower than vivacissimo.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: vivacissimo or vivace?
vivacissimo vs vivace
Vivace means lively; vivacissimo is the strongest form and means extremely lively.
Practice
The composer wrote vivacissimo over the final bars. What does this ask players to do?
Choose one answer.
Vivacissimo is the Italian direction for extremely lively and fast playing. The other options describe quiet, slowing or smooth singing styles.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “vivacissimo”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.