scherzando

American  

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

adjective

1. (a musical direction) playful; sportive.

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scherzando British  

/ skɛəˈtsændəʊ /

adjective

1. to be performed in a light-hearted manner

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noun

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

Etymology

Origin of scherzando

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

Example Sentences

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 Mathews, W. S. B. (William Smythe Babcock)

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 Wagnalls, Mabel

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 Hughes, Rupert

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 Carpenter, S. C. (Stephen Cullen)

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 Hughes, Rupert