parlando

[ pahr-lahn-doh ]

/ pɑrˈlɑn doʊ /

adjective Music.

sung or played as though speaking or reciting (a musical direction).

Nearby words

parkway, parky, parl., parl. proc., parlance, parlando, parlary, parlay, parle, parlement, parley

Origin of parlando

1875–80; < Italian, present participle of parlare to speak; see parle

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for parlando

He tried to imitate ordinary conversational speech with music half sung and half spoken—what came to be called "parlando."
How Music Developed|W. J. Henderson
Parlando—well accented or enunciated; applied to melody playing.
Music Notation and Terminology|Karl W. Gehrkens
His words are parlando, but the orchestra illumines them with music clear as a calcium light.
Stars of the Opera|Mabel Wagnalls
Instead of broad, flowing, but intelligible themes, a mongrel breed of recitative and parlando was to take their place.
Old Fogy|James Huneker

Tonio comes forward and announces in parlando voice that "the comedy is finished!"
Stars of the Opera|Mabel Wagnalls

British Dictionary definitions for parlando

parlando

/ (pɑːˈlændəʊ) /

adjective, adverb

music to be performed as though speaking

Word Origin for parlando

Italian: speaking, from parlare to speak

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