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All smoothly joined.
Printed at the start of a passage, often at the very opening beneath the tempo word, and lasts until a contrary articulation appears; it saves drawing long slurs over every phrase.
Tutto legato (everything joined) asks that every voice, not only the melody, be connected. In piano music it is useful for accompaniment figures that should blend, and for chorale-like textures. It does not cancel phrasing: still mark breaths or slur ends where phrases close.
Hensel, “Schwanenlied”, 6 Lieder, Op. 1, piano, m. 1: “tutto legato”, printed under the heading “Andante”.
Tutto legato is one of 1755 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
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