Of importance; momentous; weighty; influential; sedate; serious; -- said of character, relations, etc.; as, grave deportment, character, influence, etc.
Not light or gay; solemn; sober; plain; as, a grave color; a grave face.
Not acute or sharp; low; deep; -- said of sound; as, a grave note or key.
Slow and solemn in movement.
(Italian), "heavy, solemn." Slow and serious. Similar to adagio.
dignified and somber in manner or character and committed to keeping promises; "a grave God-fearing man"; "a quiet sedate nature"; "as sober as a judge"; "a solemn promise"; "the judge was solemn as he pronounced sentence"
Italian term for an expression of mood that is solemn and slow in nature
Grave has two distinct meanings. As a tempo marking it is very slow and arguably intended to be the slowest tempo marking. In terms of mood, the meaning of grave is seriously sad or mournful. During its first use grave was an ambiguous adjective perhaps trying to infer "lowest" as in the lowest voice of a choir or orchestra. Corelli was one of the first to use the term to indicate slow movements in almost all of his music. The tempo of the exceptional few, where Corelli omitted grave, were indicated by other terms. Unfortunately, as is the case with many tempo and/or mood markings, no consistent use can be derived from the historical use of the term until about 1850.
(fr.) - Slow (the slowest tempo in music) or deep in pitch [back
Solemn; very, very slow. Example: Beethoven, Piano Sonata in C minor, Op.13 "Pathétique", first movement Real Audio: 28k | 56k | About this album The pace of this piano work is very, very slow and the mood is solemn.