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Definition of allegro in English:

allegro

Pronunciation /əˈleɡrō/ /əˈlɛɡroʊ/

adverb

Music

  • (especially as a direction) at a brisk tempo.

    ‘the first movement proceeds allegro’
    • ‘When she returned to Mr. B's class, across the floor she sped in a moving allegro combination, executing triple pirouettes.’
    • ‘Her strengths shone through in this Coppelia, with its lightning petit allegro segments and pointe solos.’
    • ‘Though she rose slowly through the company ranks (appointed soloist in 1967 and principal in 1972), her brilliant allegro technique made her a natural Balanchine dancer.’
    • ‘As David moved into the allegro section of class, he identified two purposes, strengthening the body and building a vocabulary of steps.’
    • ‘The allegro finale burns down the barn, without sacrificing musicality or a sharply-defined independence of voices.’

adjective

Music

  • Performed at a brisk tempo.

    ‘he imbues the allegro finale with a combination of menace and firm resolve’

nounallegros

Music

  • A passage or movement in an allegro tempo.

    • ‘He couldn't write a symphonic allegro to save his life.’
    • ‘It was played with coloured lighting to guide us through the movements: red for the first allegro, blue for the quieter slow movement, and green with increasing orange for the finale.’
    • ‘The opening allegro was written in a white heat of inspiration, during a holiday in the mountains near Graz; he seems to have run out of manuscript paper, for the last 50 bars are scribbled out on dinner napkins.’
    • ‘The opening allegro crackled with masculine high jinks.’
    • ‘The allegro begins in a beautiful apartment in south-east Paris, from which you can see the lights of the Eiffel Tower scanning the sky.’

Origin

Italian, literally ‘lively, gay’.

Pronunciation

allegro

/əˈleɡrō/ /əˈlɛɡroʊ/