Più diminuendo

As Printed on a Score

Printed below the staff as più dim., following an earlier dim. or sempre dim. that it carries further, and often joined to a tempo word (più dim. e riten.). It runs until the softer dynamic it reaches.

Abbreviations: più dim.

Also spelled: piu dim., piu diminuendo

How Composers Use It

The second step of a fade, asking for a steeper fall than the diminuendo before it. It is useful where a passage dies away in stages — each phrase quieter than the last — and in closing bars. Give it a destination (pp, ppp) and consider letting instruments drop out as it goes.

Example

Debussy, Arabesque No. 1 in E major, m. 69: “più dim.”, carrying on from the “dim. molto” and “rit.” two bars earlier; a p follows two bars later.

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