# A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Nuances

From volume 2 of the work.
​NUANCES (shades). This word is used in music to denote the various modifications of time, force, and expression, which are the most prominent characteristic of modern music, whether indicated by the composer or inserted by the performer. As examples of modifications of time may be cited the directions rallentando, accellerando, calando, lentando, stringendo, etc.; of force, crescendo, diminuendo, pesante, martellato, besides piano and forte with their own modifications, as mezzo piano, pianissimo, etc., the marks for crescendo and diminuendo, and or for sforzando; of expression, dolce, espressivo, marcato, lusingando, etc. No exact date can be given for the time when these marks originated, as they came very gradually into use. They became more and more common as the instruments were gradually improved. Burney (vol. iv. p. 187) says, speaking of Matthew Lock: 'In his third introductory music to the Tempest' (written in ​1670), 'which is called a Curtain Tune, probably from the curtain being first drawn up during the performance of this species of overture, he has, for the first time that has come to my knowledge, introduced the use of crescendo (louder by degrees) with diminuendo and lentando, under the words soft and slow by degrees.' From the fact of these directions being in Italian, we may gather that they had been previously used by Italian coinposers, but the date cannot be put much earlier than 1670 for their first appearance. From this time until about 1740, when they were quite settled and in constant use, these marks of expression were used, at first very sparingly, and gradually more and more frequently. A comparison has been made (vol. i. p. 205) between Beethoven's marks and those of Mozart with respect to number, to which may be added the following calculation, showing that their frequency depends in a great measure on the development of the pianoforte. In the Adagio of Beethoven's sonata, op. 106, there are 150 marks to 188 bars, and in Chopin's Largo in the sonata in B minor, op. 58, there are 141 marks to 120 bars. The place of accents was taken, on keyed instruments, by the manieren, or grace-notes, which served to emphasize the notes before which they were placed. Possibly it is from this cause that the confusion, so common in some musical criticisms, has arisen of using the word nuances to indicate the grace-notes or fioriture of singers. These marks occur occasionally in the works of Bach, as for instance in the Italian Concerto, and they are used by Rameau and Couperin, who give them in French, retaining their own language in spite of the general use of Italian for musical purposes. This custom remains still in French music, in which such terms as 'pressez le temps,' 'animez un peu,' etc., are of frequent occurrence; and of late, German composers have taken to excluding Italian expressions altogether, substituting 'zunehmend' and 'abnehmend' for crescendo and diminuendo, etc. This is the latest development of the practice originated by Beethoven in one or two of his later works, and continued by Schumann, who confined himself, almost entirely, to the German language.
[ J. A. F. M. ]