Mutano

As Printed on a Score

Printed over a staff shared by two or more players, usually during rests: Mutano in A, Mutano in B. It applies to every player on that staff from their next entry until the next change. Pitch letters are often German, so in B means B-flat.

How Composers Use It

Use the plural when a pair or section changes together — typically B-flat clarinets moving to A for a sharp-key passage and back again, a change that also alters the written key signature. Give everyone enough rest to swap instruments and warm the new ones. If only one player changes, name them (II. muta in C) rather than sending the whole pair off.

Example

Brahms, Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90, first movement, clarinets, m. 35: “Mutano in A”, one bar before the “mezza voce grazioso” of m. 36; at m. 48 they read “Mutano in B”.

Related Terms