Fino al

As Printed on a Score

Printed inside a direction to set its end point (“smorzando fino al fine”, “ritenuto sino al 1° Tempo”, Brahms’s “sin al fine”), so the instruction runs from where it is written to the named place. Sino and sin are the same word as fino.

Also spelled: fino a, fino alla, sino al, sino alla, sin al

How Composers Use It

Fino al gives a gradual or continuing instruction a destination, which is exactly what players need to pace it: a smorzando fino al fine lasts to the final bar rather than a phrase or two. It also appears in repeat directions such as fino al segno. Italian grammar wants al before a masculine noun and alla before a feminine one (fino alla fine), though printed scores are not always consistent.

Example

Bizet, “La coccinelle”, from the 20 Mélodies, Op. 21, voice, m. 188: “smorzando fino al fine”, printed in the piano part as well.

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