Largo

Largo is Italian for ‘broad’ or ‘wide’. As a tempo marking it indicates a slow tempo with a particular character: spacious, dignified, even majestic. Standard metronome charts place largo at about 40–60 BPM, similar to lento, but the affect is different — largo implies breadth and ceremony.

The most famous example is the ‘Largo’ from Handel’s opera Xerxes (the aria ‘Ombra mai fù’), so beloved that the term ‘Handel’s Largo’ became a popular concert standby. Dvořák’s ‘Largo’ from the New World Symphony is another iconic example: spacious, hymn-like, profoundly moving.

Largo movements typically have a sense of ritual or solemnity. The marking suggests that the music should not merely be slow — it should occupy space, with each phrase opening out grandly. Conductors often shape largo by gesture rather than counting, trusting the natural breath of the line.

Italian, ‘wide, broad, ample’, from Latin largus (‘abundant, plentiful’).

Don’t play merely slow. Play broad. Bows long, breath full, harmony savored. The texture should fill the room. A largo that feels narrow has missed the point.