Sostenuto

What it means

Sostenuto means “held, sustained” and calls for the notes to be held out over their full duration and the sound to be carried. The music is to seem calm and even, without gaps between the notes and without slackening within a note.

The marking has two uses. As a performance instruction it concerns tone production. As an addition to a tempo word, for instance in andante sostenuto or adagio sostenuto, it additionally works slightly slowing — the movement is to sound sustained, not moved.

Sostenuto differs from tenuto, which gives the individual note its full duration, in that it applies to a whole section. It differs from legato, which concerns binding, through the emphasis on sustaining.

On the piano the word also designates the middle pedal, which lets individual notes sustain.

In the notation

The word stands in italics above the staff, alone or after a tempo word, and applies until a new marking. Abbreviated it appears as sost. It is often found over sections with long note values and bound lines.

Musical use

The designation is used in slow movements and introductions, in chorale-like sections, and in themes with broad melodic writing. In orchestral music it often stands over strings and winds whose sound is to be carried over long values. As an addition to a tempo word it is especially widespread in nineteenth-century music.

Sostenuto calls for sustained notes at full length. The instruction can also mean a slight pulling back of the tempo, especially as a tempo addition, for instance andante sostenuto. In piano building, the middle pedal is called the sostenuto pedal, because it holds individual struck notes while others remain damped.

Performance practice

Hold every note to the end and do not let it fall off after the attack. Plan breath and bow distribution so that the sound stays even. Connect the notes without gaps. And take the tempo rather calm — a sustained movement tolerates no haste.