stretto
/ˈstɹɛtəʊ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.30 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The presence of two close or overlapping statements of the subject of a fugue, especially towards the end.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
An acceleration in the tempo of an opera that produces an ending climax.
Countable; Uncountable
adv
With gradually increasing speed.
adj
Example Sentences
- "In classical music there are, as the analytical programs tell us, first subjects and second subjects, free fantasias, recapitulations, and codas; there are fugues, with counter-subjects, strettos, and pedal points; there are passacaglias on ground basses, canons ad hypodiapente, and other ingenuities, which have, after all, stood or fallen by their prettiness as much as the simplest folk-tune."
- "So that over and above the public components – holidays, tourist attractions – there are private meanderings, linked to the climate as if this spell were a stretto passage in the year’s fugue: haphazard weather, aimless loves, unpredicted commitments…"
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: stretto