L'istesso Tempo

L’istesso tempo (often written as ‘l’istesso tempo’ or ‘istesso tempo’) means ‘the same tempo’. The marking is used at points where the music could naturally suggest a tempo change — most often a meter change or a shift in note values — and the composer wishes to make explicit that the beat should remain constant.

For example, a passage in 6/8 followed by a passage in 2/4 with the marking ‘l’istesso tempo’ tells the performer that the dotted quarter of the 6/8 equals the quarter of the 2/4. The pulse remains identical even though the meter has changed.

The marking is essential for clarity in scores with metric modulation, common in the music of Carter, Babbitt, and other 20th-century composers, but also found in earlier music whenever a metric ambiguity might arise.

Italian, ‘the same tempo’ — l’istesso (‘the same’) + tempo.

Identify what unit (quarter, dotted quarter, eighth) is being equated. The marking is meaningless without that anchor. In ensemble work, agree on the unit explicitly during rehearsal.