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A single stand of string players (two players sharing a music stand).
Printed over a string part (one desk, 1 desk) where only one stand plays, normally the first; it holds until all, tutti or another desk count. English scores use it alongside 2 desks, 4 desks and so on.
Abbreviations: 1 desk
One desk means two players: a small, chamber-like sound between a solo and the section. Use it for delicate textures or to thin a line without the exposure of a single soloist. Say whether the two players divide (div.), and write tutti or all where the full section returns.
Holst, The Planets, “Mercury, the Winged Messenger”, violins I, violins II and violas, m. 101: each part prints “one desk” at pp, in the bar where the celesta has a solo.
One desk is one of 1755 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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