This is meant only as humour- so read on only if you are in the mood for it. The whole thing about "largo and lento" started when I realized on the 3rd of Ferbruary after I had finished my weekly radio program that I had just concluded was the program for the last Sunday before the beginning of the Lent. By all rights, I should have played one of the Bach cantatas composed for that Sunday. It was then, when I started thinking about how I couldmake up for that sin, that I started my fanciful speculations on "lento" and the Lent. And of course, once I started on that wild goose chase, it took me awhile before I actually decided to consult some "data", so to speak, but not before I had already reached "lentil". By the time I started looking up my etymological dictionaries, I was convinced that the logic behind the series was that "we say farewell to meat on the Carnival, start fasting and so eating lentil with Lent and hence move slowly (lento)". Unfotunately, none of the roots check up... Still, it was fun while it lasted... But let me share a few tidbits I have discovered in the process... A quick search in eMusic, yielded 4725 tracks labeled "largo", as opposed to just 2808 tracks labeled "lento". (A check of my own archive yielded a somewhat similar, albeit even more dramatic ratio- just 60 lentos as opposed to 170 largos). So it would, seem that while largo is the "unmarked" (as linguists would say) term for "very slow", lento indicates very slow in a (in some sort of special) "marked" way. Now, as to what that sort of special way may be or whether any general answer can be given to question- I don't know... Again just a few tidbits... Bach, uses lento marking three times in his solo pieces for cello (the sarbands), but never in solo violin pieces the violin (largo is pereferred there). The ratio of lentos to largos seem to be higher among Chopin's nocturnes as compared to the "general population". All three movements of Gorecki's 3rd symphony are marked lento; and my favorite Dvorak chamber piece, the Dumky trio, opens and closes with a lento maestoso... Enough! Sorry to have taken up your time with this silliness but I am grateful to all those who have supplied me with relevant information. Regards, iskender *********************************************** The CLASSICAL mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's HDMail High Deliverability Mailer for reliable, lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html