Piano (performance title)
Piano ( Italian . Gentle, quiet), abbreviated p , is a performance designation in music that relates to the tone strength ( dynamics ) and the opposite of forte ( Italian : strong, loud). Designations derived from this are:
- pianissimo ( pp ), very quiet
- pianopianissimo ( ppp ), extremely quiet
- mezzo piano ( mp ), semi-quiet, fairly quiet (a little louder than p )
- fortepiano ( fp ), strong and immediately quiet again. In contrast, pf does not mean pianoforte , but poco forte (a little strong), earlier (e.g. with Johann Wilhelm Häßler ), weaker than mezzoforte , today mostly “quite strong”. In the sense of più forte (stronger), the abbreviation pf is rarely used (or only rarely).
The term piano in the sense of volume instructions appears for the first time towards the end of the 16th century (e.g. in the Sonata pian 'e forte by Giovanni Gabrieli , 1597). In the course of the following centuries, it became more and more common and differentiated gradations ( pp , ppp , see above) were added. From the 19th century, four and five times p was occasionally prescribed in individual compositions . An extreme example is Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony , where in the first movement at the end of the exposition the solo bassoon is required to have a sixfold p ( pppppp ).
In the baroque era , piano was often used synonymously with echo . With multi-manual keyboard instruments, forte and piano can require different manuals ( terrace dynamics ).
See also
literature
- Piano. In: Hugo Riemann , Alfred Einstein : Hugo Riemanns Musiklexikon . 11th edition. Max Hesses Verlag, Berlin 1929, p. 1388 .
- Piano. In: Marc Honegger, Günther Massenkeil (ed.): The great lexicon of music. Volume 6: Nabakov - Rampal. Updated special edition. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau a. a. 1987, ISBN 3-451-20948-9 , p. 271.
- Piano. In: Willibald Gurlitt , Hans Heinrich Eggebrecht (Hrsg.): Riemann Music Lexicon (subject part) . B. Schott's Sons, Mainz 1967, p. 732 .