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According to wikipedia Adagio means:

Adagio – slow and stately (literally, "at ease") (66–76 bpm)

In Shumann's "Grosse Sonate" op. 11, the tempo marking is "Un poco adagio" :

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what does this mean? According to Glossary of musical terminology "Un poco" means

un poco or un peu
A little

So does this mean that Un poco adagio a little bit faster or a little bit slower than Adagio? And how fast is that approximately in beats per minute?

Håkon Hægland
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Most will interpret this as meaning "a little bit faster than Adagio." In other words, it's not totally slow, just a little bit slow, thus with a slightly higher BPM than a "true" Adagio.

In terms of giving an actual BPM for un poco Adagio, that's much more difficult. Everyone will have a different interpretation of the tempo; check out Perahia, Kissin, and Pollini to see what you might like best.

Richard
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  • Interesting to compare the different performances on Youtube. I am not sure what tempo I like the best yet, but at least I think it should be as you say a little be faster than Adagio. – Håkon Hægland Aug 27 '16 at 13:05