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Gradually getting softer. Abbreviated dim. Synonymous with decrescendo.
Diminuendo and decrescendo are interchangeable. Some composers prefer diminuendo for longer, more gradual reductions in volume, but this distinction is not consistently observed. Use whichever reads more naturally.
Mahler's Symphony No. 9, final movement — the extended diminuendo of the last pages, marked "ersterbend" (dying away), is one of music's most moving endings.
Diminuendo is one of 228 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary, where every definition is written around how composers actually use the word.
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