rubato means A tempo in which strict timing is relaxed, the music being played near, but not on, the beat. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why this word is great
RUBATO — [Noun] A performance practice in music involving the momentary, expressive stealing of time, where tempo becomes elastic and notes linger or hasten within a phrase. Shortened from the Italian musical phrase 'tempo rubato', literally meaning 'robbed time', from the past participle of 'rubare' (to rob, steal). Unlike a tempo, which commands a strict return to the meter's regiment, or accelerando, which signals a wholesale, linear quickening, rubato is a subtle, localized economy of give-and-take. It is the sigh in a singer's breath between words, the conspiratorial hurry of a phrase before a cadence, the slight catching of a violinist’s bow that makes recovery feel like a revelation—a controlled unravelling of order to reveal the human pulse beneath the beat.
noun
- A tempo in which strict timing is relaxed, the music being played near, but not on, the beat.“The etudes with metronome markings should be played in tempo, all others should be considered rubato.”