Sordino

As Printed on a Score

Printed above a string or brass part: con sordino (con sord.) puts the mute on; senza sordino or via sordini takes it off; German parts say mit Dämpfer and Dämpfer ab. A lone sord. means muted. In early piano music, though, sordini are the dampers, so senza sordini means with the sustaining pedal.

Abbreviations: sord.

Also spelled: sordini, sordina

How Composers Use It

A mute changes colour more than volume: strings become veiled and silvery, brass thinner and more distant. Give players time to fit and remove mutes — a few seconds for strings, more for brass — and say which mute you want for brass if it matters. Con sordini, plural, is normal for a section. When reading Beethoven’s piano music, remember the older piano sense.

Example

Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 (“Moonlight”), first movement, m. 1: “Si deve suonare tutto questo pezzo delicatissimamente e senza sordini” — here senza sordini means with the dampers raised, the sustaining pedal down.

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