Allegro Molto Agitato

[Khandro]

How would you translate this instruction on a music score (The Flying Dutchman) into English, and what would a musician be expected to do ?

[Jackdaw33]

Play quickly and furiously.

[Khandro]

I'm not a musician (obviously), a I can understand say, 'con brio' but I wonder how one could play, "furiously".

[albaqwerty]

maybe Quickly and with much energy ?

[Jackdaw33]

Very energetically might be a better term. If you were playing the piano you would thump the keys at a rate of knots. The idea is to convey a sense of urgency when played.

[Jackdaw33]

The William Tell overture (Lone Ranger theme) is a classic example.

[Khandro]

Thanks, I think the phrase 'fast and furious' might apply?

[Jackdaw33]

As good a translation as any other.

[Khandro]

Richard Wagner himself wrote the instruction, so it must be right :0)

[Jackdaw33]

When I started learning the piano 63 years ago all these terms had to be explained to me. I still don't fully understand why they always have to be in Italian.

[Khandro]

It's all pretty invigorating stuff, reading on I see, 'Feroce' and 'Molto passionato'. It all sounds like hard work for the performers.

[Jackdaw33]

My favourite is pizzicato. I play like that when I'm in my cups. I'm well pizzicatoed!

[Khandro]

Wikipedia says, Wagner claimed in his 1870 autobiography Mein Leben that he had been inspired to write the opera following a stormy sea crossing he made from Riga to London in July and August 1839, which might account for all the bluster.

I suppose when music is printed, it will have to be read by musicians of all nationalities, so keeping it all in Italian is probably as good as any and it was most likely in the universal language of Latin at first, so it wouldn't have been a big jump to Italian.