legato

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian legato, past participle of legare (“to tie up, tie together, to bind”), learned borrowing from Latin ligō (“tie, bind”). Doublet of ligate.

adv

1. (music) Smoothly, in a connected manner.
   Play this passage legato, not portato.

noun

1. (music) A style of performance characterized by smoothly connected notes.
   It is the coördination of the finger and hand as examplified in the proportionate speed of shifting according to the speed of the musical passage, which makes for evenness, continuity, smoothness, and ultimately, a fine legato. 1936, Edward E. Cramer, The Basis of Artistry in Violin Playing, page 49
   At the end of the prelude of Caprice V, there is a chromatic ascending and descending scale of forty-eight notes to be played in one bow in legato. 1979, Leslie Sheppard, Herbert R. Axelrod ·, Paganini, page 604
   Clementi, in his "Introduction to the art of playing the piano-forte" (1801) still had to advise pianists that : "the best general rule is to keep the keys of the instrument suppressed during the whole length of the note" (p.8) and "whenver the composer leaves the legato or staccato to the taste of the performer, the best rule is to use the legato in most cases and to reserve the staccato in order to give particular passages more spirit and to enhance the higher beauties of the legato." 1989, Siglind Bruhn, Guidelines to Piano Interpretation, page 97
2. (music) A passage that is played legato.
   It schools the mind to watch for the legato all the time, as its absence at the organ is mor prominent than at the piano; but beyond this point it renders little assitance to the pianist. 1893, The Organ: Monthly Journal Devoted to the King of Instruments, page 198
   A good pianist, however, will make his audience believe that he is as capable of performing a legato as is a singer or violinist. 1958, József Gát, The Technique of Piano Playing, page 95
   Legatos are indicated in both notations by a bow between respective notes. 2000, Chroma Report, page 15