altissimon.adj.
/alˈtɪsᵻməʊ/, U.S. /ælˈtɪsᵻmoʊ/, /ɑlˈtɪsᵻmoʊ/ Music.
A. n.
The highest part of the range of a voice or (less commonly) an instrument. Chiefly in in altissimo: in the second octave above the treble stave, beginning with G.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > [adverb] > high > above treble stave
in alt1535
in altissimo1773
1773 C. Burney Present State Music in Germany II. 273 [The organ at the church of St Michael in Hamburg] has four sets of keys, long compass, up to F in altissimo.
1797 Encycl. Brit. XII. 497/2 She has been heard to ascend to B b in altissimo.
1838 Penny Cycl. X. 329/2 The scale of the concert flute is from C below the treble staff to C in the altissimo.
1845 E. Holmes Life Mozart 63 I could not have conceived it possible to sing to C in altissimo.
1898 Musical Times 39 732 Of these the second movement..makes the more immediate impression, the other being rather protracted, especially as regards the long unison passage for the violins in altissimo.
1947 Times 21 Mar. 6/4 Her low notes were too often lost in the void, and some of the coloratura in altissimo was erratic.
1992 Option July 92/4 Murray also shoots to the stratosphere with his patented high-pitched altissimo.
2001 New Grove Dict. Music (Online ed.) at In alt The notes of the octave above this [sc. alt] are said to be in altissimo.
B. adj.
Designating or relating to the highest part of the range of a voice or instrument, esp. the second octave above the treble stave, beginning with G; (more generally) very high-pitched.
ΚΠ
1825 T. Busby Concert Room & Orchestra Anecd. I. 32 The whole compass of this threefold instrument..from the F below the lower line of the bass stave, to the altissimo notes of the treble.
1836 Athenæum 9 Apr. 260/2 We wish this lady would be prevailed upon to forget her altissimo notes.
1870 Dwight's Jrnl. Music 26 Mar. 213/3 Announcing the appearance of the heavenly hosts by an altissimo trill of a piccolo flute solo.
1913 L. C. Elson et al. Mod. Music & Musicians I. 93/1 Her [sc. Lucrezia Agujari's] high notes were clear and agreeable all through the altissimo octaves.
1989 Independent 13 Oct. 16/1 Dame Joan gave a compelling performance,..rising superbly to the final altissimo E flat.
1990 Times 13 Dec. 24/3 Every note, every altissimo shriek, pins the listener back against the wall.
2004 S. Washington in R. G. O'Meally et al. Uptown Conversat. 44 Saxophonists like Pharoah Sanders and Albert Ayler..were masters of the altissimo register of their instruments.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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