stretto

[ stret-oh ]

/ ˈstrɛt oʊ /

noun, plural stret·ti [stret-ee] /ˈstrɛt i/, stret·tos. Music.

the close overlapping of statements of the subject in a fugue, each voice entering immediately after the preceding one.

Nearby words

Origin of stretto

1745–55; < Italian: literally, narrow < Latin strictus. See strict, strait

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

Examples from the Web for stretto

He was thinking more of his prima donna than of Elcia when he wrote that stretto.
Massimilla Doni|Honore de Balzac
The scena ends with a stretto, a concluding passage taken in more rapid tempo in order to enhance the effect.
The Complete Opera Book|Gustav Kobb
The chief feature in this brilliant passage is a piling up of the theme in stretto form (see measures 148-153).
Music: An Art and a Language|Walter Raymond Spalding
The first and last quartet end with a thoroughly worked-out fugue, complete with stretto and inversions.
Life Of Mozart, Vol. 1 (of 3)|Otto Jahn

A stretto is a net, and if one is not constantly on the watch, he is caught in its meshes.
An American Girl in Munich|Mabel W. Daniels

British Dictionary definitions for stretto

stretto

/ (ˈstrɛtəʊ) /

noun plural -tos or -ti (-tiː)

(in a fugue) the close overlapping of two parts or voices, the second one entering before the first has completed its statement of the subject

Also called: stretta (ˈstrɛtə) a concluding passage in a composition, played at a faster speed than the earlier material

Word Origin for stretto

C17: from Italian, from Latin strictus tightly bound; see strict

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