al niente
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Italian al niente.
Adverb
[edit]al niente (not comparable)
- (music) Indicating in music notation that the dynamics fade to nothing.
- 1970, English Church Music, page 45:
- I would, anyhow, put my money on Nunc Dimittis with its atmospheric mood and beautifully original ending where, after the impact of a robust Gloria a solo soprano quietly reiterates the opening phrase senza misura with the rest of the choir singing Amens al niente on open fifths.
- 2005, Michael Halliwell, Opera and the Novel: The Case of Henry James[1]:
- There is a strong feeling of renunciation, but this is softened somewhat by her enigmatic smile which implies a certain contentment and satisfaction, and the music dies away al niente.
- 2016, Mine Doğantan-Dack, Artistic Practice as Research in Music: Theory, Criticism, Practice[2]:
- The Prelude ends ambiguously, in that the two crotchet rests in bar 26 act as a fermata of indeterminate length as the resonance sustained by the open pedal fades al niente.