Risoluto

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff as a character word, alone at a point where the music turns decisive or after a tempo word (Allegro risoluto). Within a movement it lasts until the character changes; it often coincides with a louder dynamic, printed separately below the staff.

How Composers Use It

Risoluto asks for resolve: firm attacks, clear rhythm, phrasing that drives to its goals without hesitation. It is close to deciso, though risoluto usually implies more weight and determination, deciso more crispness. Beethoven headed the fugue of the Hammerklavier Sonata Allegro risoluto. Within a piece it is useful for the moment a tentative idea becomes assertive, and it makes a clear contrast after a hesitant or rubato passage.

Example

Debussy, Arabesque No. 1 in E major, piano, m. 63: “risoluto” at f, directly after mp and p in the two preceding bars.

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