Ottavino

As Printed on a Score

The usual piccolo label in Italian opera and orchestral scores, Verdi and Puccini among them, abbreviated Ott. Like Flauto piccolo, it may head its own staff or appear inside a flute part as an instruction to change instruments. The notes are written an octave below the sound.

Abbreviations: Ott.

How Composers Use It

Identical in practice to the piccolo: written an octave below sounding, at its best in the top octave, where it can cap a full orchestra or put a glint on a flute line. The name signals an Italian-language score; within one score keep to a single name, Ottavino or Flauto piccolo, so score and part agree. Italian opera uses it for storms, festivity and sharp-edged doubling, but its lowest notes vanish under strings.

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