Stentato or stentando (the past participle and gerund of the

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 ...

verb '' stentare'' "to find it hard to do something, to have difficulty doing something") is a

musical expression Musical expression is the art of playing or singing with a personal response to the music. At a practical level, this means making appropriate use of dynamics (music), dynamics, Musical phrasing, phrasing, timbre and Articulation (music), articulat ...

which means "labored, heavy, in a dragging manner, sluggish", or "strong and forced". It is abbreviated "sten." or "stent." and is, for example, the direction given for the last 17 bars of the Sanctus of

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

and also used by

Ottorino Respighi Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions r ...

in his composition

Pini di Roma Pini may refer to: People Surname *Anthony Pini (Carlos Antonio Pini; 1902–1989), Argentinian cellist, soloist, orchestral section leader and chamber musician *Antonio Pini-Corsi (1858(?)–1918), Italian operatic baritone * Carolina Pini (1 ...

. Sometimes the term Stentate is used as well (e.g. Marchesi Opus 15, No. 13). This has the same meaning as Stentato or stentando.

References

{{music-theory-stub Musical notation Italian words and phrases