stretto

[ stret-oh ]

/ ˈstrɛt oʊ /

the close overlapping of statements of the subject in a fugue, each voice entering immediately after the preceding one.

Origin of stretto

1745–55; < Italian: literally, narrow < Latin strictus. See strict, strait

He was thinking more of his prima donna than of Elcia when he wrote that stretto.

Massimilla Doni |Honore de Balzac
The scena ends with a stretto, a concluding passage taken in more rapid tempo in order to enhance the effect.

The Complete Opera Book |Gustav Kobb
The chief feature in this brilliant passage is a piling up of the theme in stretto form (see measures 148-153).

Music: An Art and a Language |Walter Raymond Spalding
The first and last quartet end with a thoroughly worked-out fugue, complete with stretto and inversions.

Life Of Mozart, Vol. 1 (of 3) |Otto Jahn

A stretto is a net, and if one is not constantly on the watch, he is caught in its meshes.

An American Girl in Munich |Mabel W. Daniels

stretto

/ (ˈstrɛtəʊ) /

(in a fugue) the close overlapping of two parts or voices, the second one entering before the first has completed its statement of the subject

Also called: stretta (ˈstrɛtə) a concluding passage in a composition, played at a faster speed than the earlier material

C17: from Italian, from Latin strictus tightly bound; see strict