Dynamics (music)

In music, dynamics are instructions in musical notation to the performer about hearing the loudness of a note or phrase. More generally, dynamics may also include other aspects of the execution of a given piece.

Relative loudness

The two basic dynamic indications in music are:

More subtle degrees of loudness or softness are indicated by:

Beyond f and p, there are also

And so on.

Some pieces contain dynamic designations with more than three f's or p's. In Holst's The Planets, ffff occurs twice in Mars and once in Uranus often punctuated by organ and fff occurs several times throughout the work. It also appears in Heitor Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 (Prelude), and in Liszt's Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale "Ad nos, ad salutarem undam". The Norman Dello Joio Suite for Piano ends with a crescendo to a ffff, and Tchaikovsky indicated a bassoon solo pppppp in his Pathétique Symphony and ffff in passages of his 1812 Overture and the 2nd movement of his Fifth Symphony.

Diminuendo (horse)

Diminuendo (9 February 1985 – 2010) was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare best known for winning the classic Epsom Oaks in 1988. She was one of the best two-year-old fillies of 1987, when she won all four of her races including the Cherry Hinton Stakes and Fillies' Mile. In 1988 she was beaten in her first two races, but won her next four, taking the Musidora Stakes, Epsom Oaks, Irish Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks. She finished second when favourite for the St. Leger Stakes and ended her racing career by finishing unplaced in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, but was rated the best three-year-old filly of the season in Europe. She was then retired to stud, where she had some success as a broodmare.

Background

Diminuendo was a chestnut filly with a white star and three white socks, bred in Kentucky by Nancy Dillman. She was from the first crop of foals sired by Diesis, a British-bred stallion who was the top-rated two-year-old in Europe in 1982. Diesis went on to become a successful breeding stallion, and though based at Mill Ridge Stud in Kentucky, he had his greatest successes in Europe: his best winners included Love Divine, Ramruma, Elmaamul and Halling. Diminuendo's dam, the American-bred mare Cacti, also produced Pricket, a filly who finished second in the 1996 Epsom Oaks.

Diminuendo (album)

Diminuendo was released in 1987 in Scotland on Nightshift Records, an independent music record label. It was Lowlife's second album. The LP was recorded at Palladium Studios in Edinburgh, Scotland, and released in May. In 2006, LTM Recordings reissued it as a CD with six bonus tracks: two songs from the "Vain Delights" 12" single (1986) and three from the Swirl It Swings EP (1986). The sixth bonus track is "Ramified", which had been specially recorded by the band for Underground Magazine and provided on a free cassette that was included with the debut issue of that publication in 1987.

Track listing

Bonus Tracks on 2006 CD Reissue: