DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

LEGATO LEGATO 665
another performer gave him the opportunity of
appearing as a principal singer. He acquitted
himself so satisfactorily that he was immediately
appointed a deputy at Westminster Abbey, and
shortly afterwards took and maintained a good
position on the English operatic stage and in
the concert -room. But for a constitutional
carelessness and neglect of close study he might,
with his natural and acquired qualifications,
liave occupied the highest place in his profession.
He died of apoplexy in London, March 28,
1S57. w. H. H.
LEGATO (Ital., sometimes written ligaio ;
Got, gcbunden; Fr. ?;V), 'connected'; the sound
of each note of a phrase being sustained until
the next is heard. In singing, a legato passage
is vocalised upon a single vowel, on stringed
instruments it is played by a single stroke of
the bow, and on the pianoforte or organ by
keejiing eacli finger upon its key until the exact
moment of striking the next. On wind instruments
with holes or keys, a legato passage is
played in one breath, the notes being produced
by opening or stopping the holes ; but a wdnd
instrument on which the diflerent sounds are
produced by the action of the lips alone, as the
horn, trumpiet, etc., is incapable of making a
true legato, except in the rare cases in which
one of the notes of the phrase is produced by
stopping the bell of the instrument with the
hand, as in the following example from the
Scherzo of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony
i 3:>-^ * ^Sjirp
The sign of legato is a curved line drawn above
or beneath the notes. In music for wind or
stringed instruments the curve covers as many
notes as are to be played with a single breath,
thus
or a single stroke of the bow ;
Beethoven.
Symphonj' No. 5.
Flute.
fSpfgi^i
Beethoven.
Celll and Bassi.
Symphony No. 9.
BEgEgggEgEgEg^^f^
n^m
In vocal music the same sign is often used, as
in Handel's chorus, 'And lie shall purify,' but
it is not necessary, since the composer can
always ensure a legato by giving a single syllable
to the whole passage, and it is in fact frequently
omitted, as in the air 'Every valley.'
In pianoforte music, all passages which are
without any mark are played legato, inasmuch
as the notes are not detached ; the curved line
is, therefore, used more for the sake of giving a
finished appearance to the passage than from
any practical necessity. Nevertheless, passages
are sometimes met with in which it appears to
have a sjjecial significance, and to indicate a
particularly smooth manner of playing, the keys
being struck less sharply than usual, and with
slightly increased jiressure. Such a passage
occurs in the Allegro of Beethoven's Sonata in
Ab, op. 26, in which the quavers alone are
marked legato, the semiquavers being left without
any mark, thus
m^:^^^^^
The same plan is followed on each recurrence
of the phrase throughout the movement, and
since this regularity can scarcely have been
accidental, it appears to indicate a corresponding
variety of touch.
Instead of the sign, the word legato is sometimes
written under the piassage, as in Beethoven's
Bagatelle, op. 119, No. 8, or Variation
No. 30 of op. 120. When the word is employed
it generally refers to the character of the whole
movement rather than to a single ptassage.
In plajdng legato passages wdiolly or partly
founded upon broken chords, some masters have
taught that the principal notes of the harmony
should he sustained a little longer than their
written length. Thus Hummel, in his Pianoforte
School, gives the following passages (and
many others) with the intimation that the notes
marked with an asterisk are to be sustained
somewhat longer than written, ' '
the better connection
on account of
This method of playing passages, which is sometimes
called legatissimo, would doubtless add
to the richness of the effect, especially upon the
light-toned pianofortes of Hummel's day, but
it is not necessary on modern instruments, the
tone of which is so much fuller. Nevertheless
it is sometimes of service, particularly in certain
passages by Chopin, wdiich without it are apt
to sound thin. Elindworth, in his edition of
Chopin, has added a second stem, indicating a
greater value, to such notes as require sustain-
ing, and a comparison of his version with the