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Extinguishing, dying away. Similar to morendo but sometimes implies a more abrupt dampening.
Smorzando (from "smorzare," to extinguish) suggests sound being snuffed out rather than fading naturally. Use it when the music should feel like it is being actively suppressed or dampened.
Liszt uses smorzando in his piano works for passages that should dissolve into the sustain pedal, the notes dying under the fingers.
Smorzando is one of 228 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary, where every definition is written around how composers actually use the word.
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