pianissimo

After a pianissimo, ambient rumble combined with a brisk layer of tapping, both produced inside the piano, a gentle, melancholy theme is played on the keyboard, repeating and gradually expanding.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

Then in that first sort of chorus, where it’s quieter, more pianissimo, “I’m defying gravity. I think it’s time to defy gravity,” she’s not quite sure.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2024

He shaped the gently rising phrases with sublime sadness and tender radiance, capping the final one with a ravishing pianissimo high C that few tenors — past or present — could match.

From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2022

Ms. Freni had the ability to project even the softest pianissimo passages across a stage.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 9, 2020

He was still singing—“Not much money, Oh! but honey”—fixing his cufflinks, parting his hair; but then he looked up and saw his sister—“Ain’t we got”—and pianissimo now—“fun”—fell silent.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

Gould found some melting pianissimos, and Goerke unsheathed a saber of sound that shone the way toward her interpretation of the whole role.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 18, 2019

This score provides a good acoustical test, its dynamic range running from celestial pianissimos to apocalyptic thunder.

From The New Yorker ● May 15, 2017

Throughout the evening, she may have gotten a little carried away making sudden shifts between dramatic outpouring and floating pianissimos, a tic becoming a predictable shtick.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2014

Bartoli, all juddery coloratura and calculated pianissimos, is mannered in the extreme.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 13, 2013

The music of this scene is grandly sustained by the orchestra, but the ensemble is difficult and requires much rehearsing, for it abounds in surprising fortes and pianissimos.

From Stars of the Opera by Mabel Wagnalls