Tenuto
Tenuto (Italian, past participle of tenere, "to hold") is a direction used in musical notation. Arguably, it is one of the first directions to be used in music notation, as Notker of St. Gall (c.840 - 912) discusses the use of the letter t in plainsong notation as meaning trahere vel tenere debere in one of his letters.
The precise meaning of tenuto is contextual: it can mean either hold the note in question its full length (or longer, with slight rubato), or play the note slightly louder. In other words, the tenuto mark may alter either the dynamics or the duration of a note. Either way, the marking indicates that a note should receive emphasis.[1]
The marking's meaning may be affected when it appears in conjunction with other articulations. When it appears with a staccato dot, it has the same meaning as staccato dots under a slur: non legato[2] or detached. When it appears with an accent mark, because the accent indicates dynamics, the tenuto takes on its meaning of full or extra duration.[3] If there is a succession of tenuto marks, one right after another, the performer would play the notes slightly detached and with a slight accent as well. [4]
Notation
Tenuto can be notated three ways:
- The word tenuto written above the passage to be played tenuto.
- The abbreviation ten. written above the note or passage to be played tenuto.
- A horizontal line, roughly the length of a notehead, placed immediately above or below the note to be played tenuto (as in the image above).
References
- ↑ Tom Gerou and Linda Lusk, Essential Dictionary of Music Notation (1996)
- ↑ Kurt Stone, "Music Notation in the Twentieth Century" (1980)
- ↑ Tom Gerou and Linda Lusk, Essential Dictionary of Music Notation (1996)
- ↑ http://www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory21.htm
- David Fallows, "Tenuto." Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy. (Accessed 15 May 2006) [1]