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appoggiatura

American  
[uh-poj-uh-toor-uh, -tyoor-uh, ahp-pawd-jah-too-rah] / əˌpɒdʒ əˈtʊər ə, -ˈtjʊər ə, ɑpˌpɔd dʒɑˈtu rɑ /

noun

Music.
  1. a note of embellishment preceding another note and taking a portion of its time.


appoggiatura British  
/ əˌpɒdʒəˈtʊərə /

noun

  1. music an ornament consisting of a nonharmonic note (short or long) preceding a harmonic one either before or on the stress See also acciaccatura

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of appoggiatura

First recorded in 1745–55; from Italian: literally, “a propping up,” equivalent to appoggiat(o), past participle of appoggiare “to support” + -ura abstract noun suffix; see ap- 1, podium, -ate 1, -ure


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

He tended to gloss over big moments with infuriatingly brisk tempos, and the crunching appoggiatura on the work’s final chord, one of the most eloquent dissonances in all of music history, simply failed to register.

From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2018

But the definition of the appoggiatura isn’t the only thing that is currently being debated.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 1, 2012

The WSJ article describes an appoggiatura as “a type of ornamental note that clashes with the melody just enough to create a dissonant sound.”

From Scientific American ● Mar. 1, 2012

Last week in Los Angeles, Les Fetes d'Hebe was given a glowing new production that reveled in each melodic appoggiatura and terpsichorean temps de courante.

From Time Magazine Archive

The leap in the left hand—first variant of the theme, tenth bar from beginning—is preceded by an appoggiatura, E natural.

From Chopin : the Man and His Music by James Huneker

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