This is a compound marking rather than a word in its own right: allegro, moderated. It asks for the brightness and forward motion of an allegro without the speed, and it is the standard opening marking for a concerto first movement, where the soloist needs room that a full allegro would not leave.
The band is narrow — four BPM in the ladder, and a handful in any reference table — because it is defined by what it sits between rather than by a speed of its own. In practice, treat it as the slow end of allegro rather than as a separate tempo.
Pieces marked allegro moderato
The middle column is the marking exactly as it is printed, qualifiers and all — which is usually more instructive than the word on its own.
| Piece | Marked |
|---|---|
| Tchaikovsky — Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35, 1st movement | Allegro moderato |
| Sibelius — Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47, 1st movement | Allegro moderato |
Where allegro moderato sits
The markings on either side, with the ranges the reference tables give them. They overlap, and that is not an error in the table — it is what the words are like.
| Marking | BPM | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Moderato | 108–120 BPM | moderately |
| Allegretto | 112–120 BPM | moderately fast |
| Allegro moderato | 116–120 BPM | not quite allegro |
| Allegro | 120–168 BPM | fast and bright |
| Vivace | 168–176 BPM | lively and fast |
The full ladder, from larghissimo to prestissimo, is on the index page.
How much to trust the number
Three things are true of every range on this site, and of every tempo table anywhere else:
- They are ranges, not values. Allegro moderato is a band 4 BPM wide, and both ends of it are correct.
- They varied by era. The words are centuries older than the metronome — Maelzel patented his in 1815, long after composers were writing adagio at the top of a page — so the numbers were fitted to the vocabulary afterwards, by people who disagreed. A Baroque andante and a Romantic andante are not the same speed, and neither is wrong.
- A metronome mark on the score always wins. If the music says ♩ = 96, that is the tempo, and the Italian word above it is telling you about character rather than speed. Set the number, ignore the table.
Both concerto movements above open at this marking and neither stays there — an allegro moderato first movement is usually a tempo to leave, not a tempo to hold.
One housekeeping note about this site specifically. The metronome’s live readout has to print exactly one marking for any tempo, so it uses a narrower, non-overlapping ladder in which allegro moderato runs 116–119 BPM. That band sits inside the 116–120 BPM above; it is the same marking, cut so that two names can never claim the same BPM.
Frequently asked questions
How fast is allegro moderato?
Allegro moderato is 116–120 BPM — an allegro deliberately held back, just short of the real thing.
What is allegro moderato in BPM?
Allegro moderato is usually given as 116–120 BPM. At 116 BPM — the middle of that band, and the tempo the metronome on this page opens at — one beat lasts 517 milliseconds. Both concerto movements above open at this marking and neither stays there — an *allegro moderato* first movement is usually a tempo to leave, not a tempo to hold.
Is allegro moderato faster than allegro?
Allegro is the faster of the two: 120–168 BPM against 116–120 BPM. The two ranges overlap in most published tables, which is normal — these are descriptions of character that were fitted to numbers afterwards, so neighbouring markings shade into each other rather than meeting at a line.