sforzando

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   music: played or marked with a sudden, forceful emphasis

   A sforzando chord interrupted the quiet passage.

2. 2
   adv

   music: with a sudden strong accent or attack

   The orchestra played the final note sforzando.

3. 3
   noun

   music: a sforzando mark, or a note, chord, or passage performed with such emphasis

   The conductor asked for a sharper sforzando in the second measure.

Borrowed from Italian sforzando, the gerund of sforzare, 'to force or strain.' In musical notation it became an instruction for a sudden forceful stress, commonly abbreviated sf or sfz.

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