Stentato or stentando (the past participle and gerund of the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

verb '' stentare'' "to find it hard to do something, to have difficulty doing something") is a

musical expression Musical expression is the art of playing or singing with a personal response to the music. At a practical level, this means making appropriate use of dynamics, phrasing, timbre and articulation to bring the music to life. Composers may specify ...

which means "labored, heavy, in a dragging manner, sluggish", or "strong and forced". It is abbreviated "sten." or "stent." and is, for example, the direction given for the last 17 bars of the Sanctus of

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

and also used by

Ottorino Respighi Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions ra ...

in his composition

Pini di Roma ''Pines of Rome'' (), P 141, is a tone poem in four movements for orchestra completed in 1924 by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi. It is the second of his three tone poems about Rome, following '' Fontane di Roma'' (1916) and preceding '' ...

. Sometimes the term Stentate is used as well (e.g. Marchesi Opus 15, No. 13). This has the same meaning as Stentato or stentando.

References

{{music-theory-stub Musical notation Italian words and phrases