IT trattenuto tempo modification advanced Support my free tools
- Abbreviation
- tratt.
How is trattenuto played?
Restrain the tempo, energy or expression while keeping the line supported and its tension alive. Depending on placement and span, trattenuto can ask for a gradual holding back comparable to rallentando, a locally slower or broader state, or a more general restraint of forward pressure; it is therefore not just an absolute slow tempo and does not prescribe one fixed rate of change. Continue the held-back quality until a tempo, Tempo I, another instruction or the end of the marked phrase. The standard compact form is tratt.
How does trattenuto sound?
Held-back motion with tension still alive.
In context
Historical dictionaries by Baker and Redman, the American History and Encyclopedia of Music, and OnMusic independently document tratt. for trattenuto. OnMusic and Dolmetsch define the word as held back with a sustained quality and compare its tempo effect with rallentando. That comparison preserves the baseline’s restrained motion and living tension, while score context still decides whether the performer hears a progressive slowdown or an established local state.