Andante assai usual interpretation
Not being Italian myself, or fluent in the language generally, I usually think of "Andante" as meaning "walking," and "assai" as meaning "very."
Fine, but what the heck am I supposed to make of "Andante assai"? 'Very walking' seems pretty nonsensical, or at least ambiguous. How would most musicians interpret it? Slightly slower than Andante, or slightly faster than Andante, or something else?
All answers welcome, but if somebody fluent in Italian would care to answer that would be extra marvelous.
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Musical terminology isn't "Italian" - it's mostly conventional words and phrases that just look like they might be Italian.
In Italian, "andante" actually means "cheap" or "second-rate" - nothing to do with "walking" at all.
And "assai" doesn't always mean "much" or "a lot" - it can mean the opposite. A phrase like "m'importa assai" means "what do I care?" or "I don't give a **** about that".
Musical instructions written by a real Italian speaker can be just as confusing - like Handel's "largo e allegro" (not alternately - simultaneously!)
Not to mention classics like "Non si deve usare qui il maledetto legato d’organista da chiesa anglicana" ...
"Andante assai" can mean either slower or faster than "Andante" - but since we don't have a precise definition for the tempo of "Andante" anyway, you just have to make up your own mind, or blindly follow whatever MM mark that an editor added to the score.
One theory is that "andante" is an incorrect form of some part of the verb "andare" - but "andare" simply means "to go" with almost the same range of literal and metaphorical meanings as in English - you can certainly "andare a piedi" (i.e. "walk") but food can "andare a male" (go bad) or something can "andare perduto" (go missing).
The basic tempo markings generally have a range of beats per minute. Andante sits between 76 - 108 on my metronome.
There are some additional qualifiers that may be added to the tempo marking to clarify which side of the tempo range the composer wishes. It is all somewhat subjective however on how much it means.
Adding Assai to the tempo, or "very much" would be play at the faster end of the Andante spectrum. Adding Non Troppo or "not too much" would be at the slower end.
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