Tutti
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tutti is an Italian word literally meaning all or together.
As a musical term, it is used in various ways:
1) It may refer to an orchestral passage in which every member of the orchestra (or a section of an orchestra) is playing at once. For instance, in a concerto it indicates the parts for the whole orchestra as opposed to the soloist.
2) An orchestrator may specify that a section leader (e.g., the principal violinist) plays alone, while the rest of the section is silent for the duration of the solo passage, by writing solo in the music at the point where it begins and tutti at the point he wishes the rest of the section to resume playing.
3) In organ music, it indicates that the full organ should be used: all stops and all couplers. (This organ usage is sometimes instead indicated as fff.) To simplify this changing over, many organ consoles offer a toe stud or a piston to call the tutti: Pressing once begins the tutti, and pressing again reverts to the previous registration.
In Italian, tutti is plural, tutto is the singular form.
[edit] References
- Apel, Willi, ed., Harvard Dictionary of Music, Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1969. SBN 674375017
