An Italian musical term indicating a passage that should be played in a hard, firm, or harsh manner.
From Italian duro meaning hard, with the diminutive-like suffix -etto. It follows Italian musical terminology traditions of using suffixes to modify how pieces should be performed.
Classical composers used 'duretto' to create emotional contrast—switching from soft, flowing passages to hard, percussive ones can feel like the music is struggling or fighting against something.
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