glissando
/ɡlɪˈsandəʊ
/noun (plural glissandi /ɡlɪˈsandi/ or glissandos) Music
A continuous slide upwards or downwards between two notes.The initial ‘Meditation’ is very troubled, with hectic glissandos and fitful ostinatos....
- The vast array of techniques explored in the 20th century, the lead often taken by jazz musicians, included a wide variety of glissandos, multiphonics, microtones, expressive attacks, and mutes.
- Within these prohibitive technical limitations, the performer is asked to make rapid scalic runs and, in one place, semiquaver leaps, and the piece ends with a double glissando.
Origin
Italian, from French glissant, present participle of glisser 'to slip, slide'.