Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A close succession or overlapping of statements of the subject in a fugue, especially in the final section.
  • noun A final section, as of an opera, performed with an acceleration in tempo to produce a climax.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In music: In a fugue, that division in which the entrances of the answer are almost immediately after those of the subject, so that the two overlap, producing a rapidly cumulative effect.
  • noun In dramatic music, a quickening of the tempo at the end of a movement for the sake of climax.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The crowding of answer upon subject near the end of a fugue.
  • noun In an opera or oratorio, a coda, or winding up, in an accelerated time.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun music The presence of two close or overlapping statements of the subject of a fugue, especially towards the end.
  • noun music An acceleration in the tempo of an opera that produces an ending climax.
  • adverb music With gradually increasing speed.
  • adjective music Having gradually increasing speed.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Italian, narrow, stretto, from Latin strictus, strict; see strict.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Italian stretto.

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Examples

  • She plunged into her apostrophe with most self-sacrificing vigor at the beginning of the scene, and was prodigal in the use of her voice in its early moments; but when the culmination of its passion was reached, in what would be called the stretto of the piece in the old nomenclature, she could not respond to its increased demands.

    Chapters of Opera Being historical and critical observations and records concerning the lyric drama in New York from its earliest days down to the present time Henry Edward Krehbiel 1888

  • My own only really substantive reference for him is L'opera architettonica e urbanistica di Armando Brasini dall'urbe Massima al Ponte sullo stretto di Messina published in 1979, an enormous and rather flimsy paperback edition of which I purchased in Rome when I was studying there.

    The Modern Baroque of Armando Brasini 2009

  • I haven't finished Morson's book yet but am rushing to share the following, because embroidery, or sewing, is also for me a symbol of the feminine desire to create beauty in the home and for the family and because Tolstoy's reference to broderie anglaise comes as the stretto in what is to me the most beautiful scene in Anna Karenina.

    Archive 2008-06-01 Linda 2008

  • I haven't finished Morson's book yet but am rushing to share the following, because embroidery, or sewing, is also for me a symbol of the feminine desire to create beauty in the home and for the family and because Tolstoy's reference to broderie anglaise comes as the stretto in what is to me the most beautiful scene in Anna Karenina.

    Anna Karenina and La Broderie Anglaise Linda 2008

  • Finally, the last two polyphonic verses are expanded to a five-voice texture by the addition of a second alto, Manchicourt heightening the effect of the ‘Gloria patri’ with stretto imitative writing.

    Archive 2009-06-01 Lu 2009

  • Enzo Grecos study of Spartacus on the Strait of Messina is illuminating if unconvincing: Enzo Greco, Spartaco sullo stretto ovvero Le origini di Villa San Giovanni e Fiumara di muro Rome: Gangemi Editore, 1999.

    The Spartacus War Barry Strauss 2009

  • "Quando nel corso di eventi umani, sorge la necessità che un popolo sciolga i legami politici che lo hanno stretto a un altro popolo ... un conveniente riguardo alle opinioni dell'umanità richiede che quel popolo dichiari le ragioni per cui è costretto alla secessione."

    Italy to Declare Independence from U.S. Military 2009

  • Enzo Grecos study of Spartacus on the Strait of Messina is illuminating if unconvincing: Enzo Greco, Spartaco sullo stretto ovvero Le origini di Villa San Giovanni e Fiumara di muro Rome: Gangemi Editore, 1999.

    The Spartacus War Barry Strauss 2009

  • Enzo Grecos study of Spartacus on the Strait of Messina is illuminating if unconvincing: Enzo Greco, Spartaco sullo stretto ovvero Le origini di Villa San Giovanni e Fiumara di muro Rome: Gangemi Editore, 1999.

    The Spartacus War Barry Strauss 2009

  • Enzo Grecos study of Spartacus on the Strait of Messina is illuminating if unconvincing: Enzo Greco, Spartaco sullo stretto ovvero Le origini di Villa San Giovanni e Fiumara di muro Rome: Gangemi Editore, 1999.

    The Spartacus War Barry Strauss 2009

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