A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Volti

VOLTI, VOLTI SUBITO—'Turn over,' 'Turn over quickly.' This direction, or the initials V.S.—an exact musical equivalent to 'P.T.O.'—is used in manuscript and old printed music, at the bottom of a page where, without it, it might be supposed, for one cause or another, that the piece had come to an end. For instance, where a double bar closes the bottom line, and the music is continued overleaf, the direction serves to remind the performer that it is not the end. It was not an uncommon practice, in writing out instrumental music, if a convenient pause, in which the player could turn over, happened to come not far from the end of a page, to leave the rest of the page blank and put the direction or the initials after the pause. This practice is still retained in orchestral parts, where the copyists always take advantage of a few bars' rest to give the player the opportunity of turning over for himself. In more recently printed music for pianoforte the direction is hardly ever found, as it is supposed that if the player cannot manage to turn over, help will be found. In such things as string parts of chamber music, the engraver generally manages that the end of a movement, or else a few bars' rest, shall come at the end of a page. In the appendix to vol. i. of C. H. Bitter's Life of J. S. Bach, part of a song, 'Bist du bei mir,' from the music-book of Anna Magdalena, Bach's second wife, is given in facsimile of the composer's writing. A double bar closes the page, but evidently the song does not end there; the composer, to prevent any mistake, has added the words 'Volti cito,' the meaning of which is precisely the same as the more usual version of the direction.

[ J. A. F. M. ]