TENUTO, 'held'; a direction of very frequent occurrence in pianoforte music, though not often used in orchestral scores. It (or its contraction ten.) is used to draw attention to the fact that particular notes or chords are intended to be sustained for their full value, in passages where staccato phrases are of such frequency that the players might omit to observe that some notes are to be played smoothly in contrast. Its effect is almost exactly the same as that of legato, save that this last refers rather to the junction of one note with another, and tenuto to the note regarded by itself. Thus the commoner direction of the two for passages of any length, is legato: tenuto however occurs occasionally in this connection, as in the slow movement of Beethoven's Sonata, op. 2, no. 2, in A, where the upper stave is labelled 'tenuto sempre,' while the bass is to be played staccato. Another good instance is in the slow movement of Weber's Sonata in A♭, op. 39.
TERCE (Lat. Officium (vel Oratio) ad horam tertiam. Ad tertiam). The second division of the Lesser Hours, in the Roman Breviary. The Office consists of the Versicle and Response, 'Deus in adjutorium'; the Hymn 'Nunc Sancte nobis Spiritus'; 48 Verses of the Psalm, 'Beati immaculati,' beginning at Verse 33, and sung in three divisions under a single Antiphon; the Capitulum and Responsorium for the Season; and the Prayer or Collect for the Day. The Plain Chaunt Music proper to the Office will be found in the 'Antiphonarium Romanum,' and the 'Directorium Chori.'
TERPODION. A musical friction-instrument, invented by Buschmann of Berlin in 1816, and improved by his sons in 1832. The principle appears to have been the same as that of Chladni's clavicylinder, except that instead of glass, wood was employed for the cylinder. [See Chladni.] In form it resembled a square piano, and its keys embraced 6 octaves. Warm tributes to its merits by Spohr, Weber, Rink and Hummel are quoted (A. M. Z. xxxiv. 857, 858, see also 634, 645; and l. 451 note), but notwithstanding these, the instrument is no longer known.
TERZETTO (Ital.). Generally a composition for three voices. Beyond one instance in Bach, and a few modern examples consisting of pieces not in sonata-form, the term has never been applied to instrumental music. It is now becoming obsolete, being superseded by Trio, which is the name given to music written for three instruments, and now includes vocal music as well. It would have been wiser to preserve the distinction.
A Terzetto may be for any combination of three voices, whether for three trebles—as the unaccompanied Angels' Trio in 'Elijah,' those of the three ladies and three boys in 'Die Zauberflöte,' and that for three florid sopranos in Spohr's 'Zemire und Azor'—or for three male voices, like the canonic trio in the last-named opera. More frequent, naturally, are Terzetti for mixed voices, the combinations being formed according to the exigencies of the situation. There is nothing to be observed in the form of a Terzetto different from that of any other vocal composition; but as regards harmony it should be noticed that when a bass voice is not included in the combination the accompaniment usually supplies the bass (where 4-part harmony is required) and the three upper parts, taken by the voices, must be so contrived as to form a tolerable 3-part harmony themselves. Such writing as the following, for voices—
though sounding well enough when played on the piano, would have a detestable effect if sung, as the bass would not really complete the chords of 6-3 demanded by the lower parts, on account of the difference of timbre.
We may point to the end of the 2nd act of Wagner's 'Götterdämmerung' as an example of three voices singing at the same time but certainly not forming a Terzetto.
TESI-TRAMONTINI, Vittoria, celebrated singer, born at Florence in 1690.[1] Her first instructor was Francesco Redi, whose school of singing was established at Florence in 1706. At a later date she studied under Campeggi, at Bologna, but it is evident that she sang on the public stage long before her years of study were over. Fétis and others say that her début was made at Bologna, after which nothing transpires about her till 1719, in which year she sang at Venice and at Dresden, and just at the time when Handel arrived there in quest of singers for the newly-established Royal Academy in London. It seems probable that he and Vittoria had met before. In his Life of Handel, Dr. Chrysander suggests, and shows good reason for doing so, that Vittoria Tesi was the young prima donna who sang in Handel's first Italian opera 'Rodrigo,' at Florence, in 1707, and in his 'Agrippina,' at Venice, in 1708, and who fell desperately in love with the young Saxon maestro. Her voice was of brilliant quality and unusual compass. Quantz, who heard her at Dresden, defines it as 'a contralto of masculine strength,' but adds that she could sing high or low with equally little effort. Fire, force, and dramatic expression were her strong points, and she succeeded best in men's parts: in florid execution she did not greatly excel. Her fame and success were at their zenith in 1719, but it does not appear that Handel made any effort to secure her for England. Perhaps he objected to her practice of singing bass songs transposed all' ottava. La Tesi sang at Venice in 1723, at Florence and Naples in 1724–5, at Milan in 1727, Parma 1728, Bologna 1731, Naples (San Carlo Theatre) from November 4, 1737, till the
- ↑ Gerber.
