Allentando

Allentando is the gerund of the Italian allentare, ‘to loosen’ or ‘to slacken’. Like slentando, it is an older and now relatively rare instruction meaning ‘gradually slowing’. Many editors treat it as interchangeable with rallentando, though the connotation is gentler — a relaxation of pace rather than a deliberate winding down.

The term is most often found in 17th and 18th-century Italian scores, where the vocabulary of tempo modification was still fluid. Modern editions sometimes silently substitute rallentando, but conscientious editors retain the original term to preserve the composer’s expressive intent.

When present in a modern score (typically a re-engraving of an older work), allentando is a signal to slow gracefully without rhetorical weight. It is a private slowing, not a dramatic one.

Italian gerund of allentare (‘to slacken, loosen’), from a- + lento (‘slow’), ultimately Latin lentus.

Read context: if the surrounding music is dramatic, treat allentando like rallentando. If it is intimate or pastoral, treat it as a softer, almost imperceptible relaxation of pulse.