tenuto
/təˈnuːtəʊ
/Music
adverb & adjective
(Of a note or chord) held for its full time value or slightly more.Here the high notes, mostly, and the tenuto notes, even more, hold out.
noun (plural tenutos or tenuti)
A note or chord held for its full time value or slightly more.A variety of articulations are found in these pieces, including legato, staccato, two-note slurs, tenuti, portatos and accents....
- He used liberal vibrato and took many liberties in phrasing using ritards, accelerandos and tenutos over important structural notes.
- The only thing that I could think of is that perhaps he's meaning to use the tenutos to imply light stresses, as they happen all over the solo soprano line.
Origin
Italian, literally 'held', past participle of tenere.