A due in
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
or à deux in
French is a musical direction meaning "for two". Most often seen in its abbreviated form ''a2'', the marking signifies that on a staff that normally carries parts for two players, both players are to play the single part in
unison
In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm.
Definition
Unison or per ...
.
[Randel, Don Michael (ed.). ''Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians.'' Cambridge, London: 1999.] It is generally seen in scores and parts where two players or sections of the same instrument share a staff. The instruction ''a2'' indicates that both players or sections should play the notes indicated, while ''primo'' and ''secondo'' (often abbreviated to ''1.'' and ''2.'' or ''I
o'' and ''II
o'') indicate that only a single player or section should play while the other remains
tacet
Tacet is Latin which translates literally into English as "(it) is silent" (pronounced: , , or ). It is a musical term to indicate that an instrument or voice does not sound, also known as a rest. In vocal polyphony and in orchestral scores, it u ...
.
Increasingly larger groups of players can also be indicated in a similar manner, for instance "a3" for three players ("a tre" in Italian, "à trois" in French), "a4" for four players ("a quattro" in Italian, "à quatre" in French), and so on.
For orchestral strings, playing in unison is usually assumed, but if returning to unison from a
divisi In musical terminology, ''divisi'', or as typically printed ''“div.,”'' is an instruction to divide a single section of instruments into multiple subsections. This usually applies to the violins of the string section in an orchestra, although v ...
passage, "unison" (or "unis.") is traditionally used to indicate this. If returning from a solo string passage (in which only a single string player in a section is performing), "tutti" is used to indicate that the whole ensemble should play once again.
See also
*
Duet
A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...
*
Unison
In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm.
Definition
Unison or per ...
References
Musical notation
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