Scintillante
"Sparkling, glittering" – a performance direction for a brilliant, shining sound.
What it means
Scintillante is an Italian performance direction meaning 'sparkling' or 'glittering.' It calls for a bright, brilliant quality of sound reminiscent of glinting light.
Scintillante often appears over fast, rippling runs or ornaments in a high register, whose sound the direction seeks to further highlight as shining and radiant.
Musical use
Especially in piano music of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, scintillante appears over virtuosic, glittering passages, such as fast arpeggios or high-register runs meant to draw a bell-like, bright sound from the piano.
Scintillante should be distinguished from brillante, which likewise calls for a brilliant delivery but refers more broadly to virtuosity and technical brilliance as a whole, whereas scintillante more narrowly denotes the glittering, almost light-like quality of the sound itself.
Performance practice
Play scintillante passages with a light, rippling touch and clearly articulated individual notes, rather than blurring them together. Sparing use of the pedal helps keep each glittering note clearly audible.