martellatoadj.adv.n.
/mɑːtᵻˈlɑːtəʊ/, U.S. /ˌmɑrdəˈlɑdoʊ/ Music.
A. adj.
Of notes: heavily accented and left before their full time has expired; percussive. Of a note, passage, etc.: played in this style. Also in extended use.In quots. 1876, 19951 as a musical direction (passing into sense B., but in each case glossed adjectivally).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > expression > [adjective] > specific expression
affettuoso1724
sostenuto1724
risoluto1740
ariose1742
arioso1742
agitato?1775
legato1786
grandioso1787
staccato1806
trainante1818
leggiero1847
appassionato1869
martelé1876
martellato1876
pesante1900
misterioso1957
marcato1961
religioso1961
1876 J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms 281/1 Martellato, lit. hammered.
1928 G. B. Shaw Let. 6 Feb. in Bernard Shaw & Mrs. P. Campbell (1952) 267 Such music as your [dramatic] pupils may have must come from within them; all you can teach them is the value of your..martellato molto.
1959 Listener 8 Oct. 596/2 One was put instantly in mind of William Walton's martellato style.
1969 Times 7 Nov. 13/1 His martellato octaves sounding like sharp cracks of a gun.
1995 Atlantic Monthly Aug. 91/1 Two of Orff's favorite markings for his massed pianos and percussion are martellato (‘hammered’) and martellatissimo (‘hammered as hard as possible’).
1995 Amer. Record Guide (Electronic ed.) 21 Nov. 281/2 The program displays the wide variety of sounds that can be obtained from the bells through such techniques as plucking, martellato playing, and striking with mallets.
B. adv.
As a musical direction: in a style characterized by heavy accents and percussive articulation.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > written or printed music > directions > [adverb] > for other expression
grave1683
cantabile1724
maestoso1724
staccato1724
legato1740
soavemente1740
tenuto1762
amoroso?1765
spiritoso1767
pomposo1786
scherzando1786
strepitoso1801
grazioso1806
mesto1806
risoluto1817
tripsomely1819
alla marcia1823
energico1824
flautando1825
giocoso1828
grandioso1829
religioso1829
largamente1837
marcato1840
flautato1842
leggiero1851
tranquillo1854
appassionato1857
lamentoso1876
misterioso1876
parlando1876
pesante1876
scherzandissimo1876
affettuoso1879
arioso1879
quasi parlato1908
martellato1928
agitato1944
soave1959
1928 Daily Express 27 Aug. 3/2 The notes in small type preceding the long B. flat..must be played martellato and with clearness.
C. n.
Martellato style of playing or musical direction.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > expression > [noun] > specific expression
staccato1724
cantabile1744
leggiero1875
martellato1931
pesante1932
1931 G. Jacob Orchestral Technique v. 50 The martellato in the left-hand part of the original.
1973 Times 28 Mar. 11/8 Verne Reynolds's Sonata, composed last year and proving to be no more than an impersonal essay in virtuoso keyboard devices, all sound and no real fury, despite an excess of martellato in the outer movements.
1995 Independent (Electronic ed.) 12 Dec. 24 From his place in amongst the percussion, the ringing martellato and sticks on skins of the First Concerto, Schiff slowly but surely reinvents the piano as a singing instrument.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.adv.n.1876