''Tutti'' is an

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 ...

word literally meaning ''all'' or ''together'' and is used as a

musical term A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special mus ...

, for the whole

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

as opposed to the soloist. It is applied similarly to choral music, where the whole section or choir is called to sing. Music examination boards may instruct candidates to "play in tuttis", indicating that the candidate should play both the solo and the tutti sections. An

orchestrator Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

may specify that a section leader (e.g., the principal violinist) plays alone, while the rest of the section is silent for the duration of the

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

passage, by writing ''solo'' in the music at the point where it begins and ''tutti'' at the point where the rest of the section should resume playing. In

organ music The organ repertoire is considered to be the largest and oldest repertory of all musical instruments. Because of the organ's (or pipe organ's) prominence in worship in Western Europe from the Middle Ages on, a significant portion of organ repert ...

, it indicates that the full organ should be used: all stops and all couplers. Some organ consoles offer a toe stud or piston to toggle the tutti: pressing once activates all stops (although it does not physically move the stop knobs), and pressing again reverts to the previous registration.

References

{{reflist Italian words and phrases Musical notation Formal sections in music analysis Musical terminology

See also

References