IT prestissimo tempo core term Support my free tools
- Abbreviation
- prest.mo.
- Tempo
- 200–208 BPM Click to play the tempo The superlative of Presto. Modern reference tables converge on about 208 BPM as a practical ceiling; one looser source extends it to 300 BPM, which is not corroborated elsewhere.
What the sources say
| Source | BPM |
|---|---|
| Frans Absil tempo-indications table | 208 |
| OnMusic Dictionary, tempo-markings appendix | 208 |
| Wikipedia, 'Tempo' article | 200 |
| Tunable tempo tables (outlier, uncorroborated upper bound) | 200–300 |
How is prestissimo played?
Play at an exceptionally rapid but still intelligible and controllable pace. Prestissimo is formed from presto plus -issimo, so “as fast as possible” is a useful practical gloss, not permission to outrun articulation, ensemble or the music’s note values. Some modern tables begin it around 200 BPM, but other evidence places it lower; metre and rhythmic subdivision make one universal threshold misleading. The marking can govern a complete movement, a bravura passage, a climax or a final acceleration, so it is not inherently brief. It intensifies Presto in the same word-building pattern by which -issimo strengthens other Italian directions.
How does prestissimo sound?
Whirlwind, breathless velocity pushed to the edge of what players can articulate cleanly.
In context
Beethoven supplies both principal use cases. The finale of Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 2 No. 1 is an entire movement headed Prestissimo, while the finale of the Ninth Symphony reaches Prestissimo near its close after other tempo sections. Those scores correct the claim that the word is normally confined to short endings, while preserving its strong association with climactic velocity. Historical dictionaries attest prest.mo., often with the final letters typographically raised; the normalized public form keeps the internal point, but writing Prestissimo in full is usually clearer.
Music theory and score context
See also
- Tempo — Wikipedia (prestissimo, "extremely fast, 200 bpm and over")
- prestissimo — Wiktionary (superlative of presto, presto + -issimo)
- Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven) — Wikipedia ("Prestissimo" in finale)
- Glossary of music terminology — Wikipedia
- Merriam-Webster — prestissimo
- IMSLP — Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 2 No. 1
- IMSLP — Beethoven, Symphony No. 9, Op. 125