l.v. is one of the abbreviations that carries more than one meaning. Written out, it can be laissez vibrer or lasciar vibrare — 2 separate directions that happen to shorten to the same letters. The score itself decides which: the surrounding passage, the instrument, and what the music is doing at that moment.
What l.v. can stand for
- laissez vibrer Laissez vibrer (l.v., 'let vibrate') directs an indicated sound to continue without deliberate damping until a local cutoff or its natural decay.
- lasciar vibrare Lasciar vibrare (l.v., 'let vibrate') is the Italian instruction to let an indicated sound ring without deliberate damping until a local cutoff or its natural decay.