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scherzando

American  
[skert-sahn-doh, -san-] / skɛrtˈsɑn doʊ, -ˈsæn- /

adjective

  1. (a musical direction) playful; sportive.


scherzando British  
/ skɛəˈtsændəʊ /

adjective

  1. to be performed in a light-hearted manner

"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

noun

  1. a movement, passage, etc, directed to be performed in this way

"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 scherzando

First recorded in 1785–90; from Italian, gerund of scherzare “to joke”; see scherzo


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:

A minuet, taken scherzando, is also most original and happy.

From Contemporary American Composers Being a Study of the Music of This Country, Its Present Conditions and Its Future, with Critical Estimates and Biographies of the Principal Living Composers; and an Abundance of Portraits, Fac-simile Musical Autographs, and Compositions by Rupert Hughes

A coda of great bravery leads to the last movement, 286 which is marked "scherzando," but is rather martial in tone.

From Contemporary American Composers Being a Study of the Music of This Country, Its Present Conditions and Its Future, with Critical Estimates and Biographies of the Principal Living Composers; and an Abundance of Portraits, Fac-simile Musical Autographs, and Compositions by Rupert Hughes

The scherzando which follows is a very light movement, and needs to be played with great delicacy and spirit.

From The Masters and their Music A series of illustrative programs with biographical, esthetical, and critical annotations by W. S. B. (William Smythe Babcock) Mathews

Nedda laughs uproariously at his confession, and with heartless sarcasm she quotes the scherzando music of the prospective play-scene, and says he must save his fine love-making for the stage.

From Stars of the Opera by Mabel Wagnalls

The change of time to triple, at the part marked scherzando is unexpected and strikingly original.

From The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor Volume I, Number 3 by S. C. (Stephen Cullen) Carpenter

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