Loading…
Loading…
All performers playing together — the full ensemble.
Tutti means the entire ensemble plays. In a concerto, tutti marks the orchestral sections as opposed to solo passages. Use tutti for climactic moments, powerful unisons, and full-texture statements. The contrast between solo and tutti is one of the concerto's essential dramatic tools.
Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 1 — the orchestral tutti that opens the work is massive, with the full orchestra in dramatic D minor.
Tutti is one of 228 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary, where every definition is written around how composers actually use the word.
Browse the full dictionary →