maestoso

American  

[mahy-stoh-soh, mah-es-taw-saw] / maɪˈstoʊ soʊ, ˌmɑ ɛsˈtɔ sɔ /

adjective

1. with majesty; stately (used as a musical direction).

---

maestoso British  

/ maɪˈstəʊsəʊ /

adjective

1. to be performed majestically

---

noun

1. a piece or passage directed to be played in this way

Etymology

Origin of maestoso

1715–25; < Italian: stately, majestic, equivalent to maest ( à ) (< Latin mājestās majesty ) + -oso -ose ¹

Example Sentences

The allegro first movement of the "Haffner," for example, is really more maestoso than the prescribed con spirito.

From Time Magazine Archive

The first number passes for the most part in a rocking of the motive of the sea, in various moods and movements: Largo e maestoso, Allegro non troppo,—tranquillo.

From Symphonies and Their Meaning; Third Series, Modern Symphonies by Goepp, Philip H.

The music, slow at first, becomes agitated as the old man struggles with his captors; it then sinks and breaks forth triumphantly, largo maestoso, as he discourses on the future greatness of Genoa.

From Sir John Constantine Memoirs of His Adventures At Home and Abroad and Particularly in the Island of Corsica: Beginning with the Year 1756 by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir

Beethoven said of Klopstock's Messiah, "always maestoso, written in D flat major."

From Essay on the Creative Imagination by Baron, Albert Heyem Nachmen

This brings us to the last movement, andante maestoso.

From The Standard Cantatas Their Stories, Their Music, and Their Composers by Upton, George P. (George Putnam)