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A rapid, slight oscillation in pitch that adds warmth and expressiveness to sustained notes.
Vibrato is the default for modern string and vocal performance. Composers can specify "senza vibrato" (without vibrato) for a purer, more austere sound — useful for early music, ethereal effects, or stark emotional contrast. Wide vibrato = warm and emotional; narrow/no vibrato = cold and objective.
Britten writes "senza vibrato" in his "War Requiem" to create a stark, hollow quality in the string writing.
Vibrato 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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