Cutting

What it means

Schneidend is a German performance marking and calls for a sharp, penetrating sound. The notes are to be attacked bright and hard, with pronounced overtones, so that they stand out distinctly from the rest of the sound.

The marking concerns above all tone colour and articulation. It does not necessarily mean great volume: even a soft note can be cutting if it is sharply attacked.

Schneidend differs from martellato, which means a hammered attack, through its emphasis on colour rather than attack. It differs from squillante, which means blaring and aims above all at brass instruments, through its hardness. With brass players, the cutting sound is often designated cuivré, a technique of its own with a metallically sharp tone.

In the notation

The word stands above the staff at the point from which it applies. It often occurs together with accents, sforzati, and instructions on manner of playing — for string players, for instance, playing close to the bridge, for brass players a stopped or blaring tone.

Musical use

The designation is used in sections that express harshness or menace, in orchestral passages in which a voice is to cut out of the overall sound, and in music of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in which tone colour is used as an independent means of expression.

The instruction calls for a sharp, hard sound with pointed articulation. String players play close to the bridge with much pressure, wind players with a hard tonguing. It is found in twentieth-century music, for instance in Mahler. The sound is to penetrate the texture like a knife, without becoming uncontrolled in doing so.

Performance practice

Look for the sharpness in the tone colour: for string players closer to the bridge and with a faster bow, for wind players with a firmer embouchure, on the piano with a short, definite touch. Take care not to crush the tone as you do so — cutting means clear and hard, not impure. Keep the intonation exact, for sharp notes forgive no deviation. And use the colour deliberately, so that it keeps its effect.