rallentava

Rallentava is the imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb rallentare, meaning to slow down or to decelerate. It translates roughly as “he/she/it was slowing down” or “you were slowing down,” depending on the subject. The form can appear in narrative, descriptive writing, or analysis to describe a process or action in progress in the past.

In the context of music, rallentava is not itself a standard performance directive. The usual tempo indication is rallentando (often abbreviated rall.), which directs a gradual slowing of the tempo. Nonetheless, rallentava may be found in Italian libretti, program notes, or critical prose as a past-tense description of how the music’s tempo changed during a passage, for example “La musica rallentava” (the music was slowing down).

Etymology: rallentava derives from rallentare, formed from the root rallent- plus the infinitive suffix -are. It has cognates in other Romance languages, such as French ralentir and Spanish ralentizar, all ultimately linked to Latin lentus meaning slow.

Usage notes: In ordinary Italian, rallentare is conjugated to express tempo changes, while in musical notation the technical directives are rallentando or ritardando, not rallentava. The form rallentava remains primarily a grammatical form used in prose to describe a deceleration rather than a formal instruction to performers.