Robbie, now you've got me confused. Unfortunately, I don't have a
dictionary with me, either musical or otherwise. However, in my
previous note about fair organ sounds, I was trying to describe a
sforzando. You edited it to "forzando".
Now I am not sure my original spelling was right but I know yours
is incorrect, at least for what I was trying to describe. A sforzando
is when a note is given a sudden attack (the word means suddenly) but
is backed off to a lesser intensity almost immediately. Our choir has
used this quite often and it is generally abbreviated in sheet music
as sfz.
This effect can be generated on a fair organ using trombones in the
bass or the trumpets in the melody to get that quick hit. I have one
or two books on my organ that utilize that effect although it isn't
too common and, of course, is not generally possible on a small organ.
In organ parlance I have sometimes heard this effect referred to as
"pizzicato" although it is not like a violin pizzicato. (Spelling
again?) Darn, I hate being without my library.
I hope I didn't confuse you too much.
Bob Conant
Endicott, NY
Temporarily hiding out in Bradenton, FL
[ Bob, the terms have quite similar definitions; maybe "sforzando"
[ is more common nowadays. The accent control in the Welte-Mignon
[ player is called the "forzando", and so I've used that term when
[ editing MMDigest. The Italian term "marcato" is related. Here's
[ a few definitions from the Dictionary of Musical Terms, 23rd Ed.,
[ (C) 1923 G. Schirmer Inc. NY
[
[ Marcando, Marcato (It., "marking, marked".) With distinctness and
[ emphasis.
[
[ Forzando (It., "forcing, straining".) With force, energy; indicates
[ that a note or chord is to be strongly accented; abbr. fz. [see]
[ Also Sforzando (sfz).
[
[ Sforzando (It., "forcing, pressing"). A direction commonly applied
[ to a single tone or chord, indicating that it is to be performed
[ with special stress, or marked and sudden emphasis. Abbr. sfz., sf.
[
[ Thanks for bringing this to my attention. It looks like my old book
[ and I are hopelessly out-of-date! -- Robbie
|