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Stating a theme in shorter note values (e.g., halving all durations), making it faster and more energetic.
Diminution compresses a theme in time, increasing urgency and energy. It can create a sense of acceleration without actually changing tempo. Often used near the end of a fugue, combined with stretto, for maximum excitement.
Bach, The Art of Fugue, Contrapunctus 6 (“in Stylo Francese”): the subject appears in diminution alongside its normal and inverted forms, in the dotted rhythms of the French overture style.
Diminution is one of 1760 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
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