sostenuto
/ˌsɒstəˈnuːtəʊ
/Music
adjective
(Of a passage of music) to be played in a sustained or prolonged manner.Myaskovsky saves his grief for the Rachmaninov-like Molto sostenuto central movement, which rises twice to a searing climax....
- There are some beautifully expressive moments in the second Andante sostenuto movement in this concerto.
- The second finale replaces the sostenuto passage in the first finale with a ghostly toccata.
noun (plural sostenutos)
1A passage to be played in a sustained or prolonged manner.You'll hear no catchy runs or sostenutos, no aria-like Mozart-esque musicality....
- His darkly burnished sound in the Andante sostenuto was all warmth and violinistic molten lava.
- The dreamy, Chopinesque poetry of the Adagio sostenuto was exquisitely molded.
1.1 [mass noun] The performance of a passage in a sustained or prolonged manner.In poise and sostenuto, her Carmen is full not only of sexiness but somehow sex itself....
- She ran away with the show as Liu, bringing clarity to both her deepest, most vociferous registers and to her challenging tremolos over sostenuto in the highest notes.
- Chapter Eight is about sustaining the voice and gives exercises for developing sostenuto.
Origin
Italian, 'sustained'.