Unisono

As Printed on a Score

Usually abbreviated unis., printed over a string part where divided players rejoin a single line, often in parentheses as a reminder. It cancels div. and lasts until the next div. In older scores it can also tell a second part, or a different instrument, to play the same notes as the line it is written beside.

Abbreviations: unis., unis

Also spelled: all’unisono, a unisono

How Composers Use It

Mark the return to unison whenever you have divided, even when the notation already shows one line: a player reading a part cannot see the score. For two winds on one staff, a 2 is the clearer instruction; keep unis. for sections. Doubling a line all’unisono between different instruments, oboes with violins say, blends their colours on one pitch, where an octave doubling would spread the line across registers.

Example

Bruckner, Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, first movement, first violins, m. 85: “(unis.)” beside “arco”, two bars after “divisi” — the divided players come back together on one line.

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