On Jul 22, 2011, at 3:43 AM, David H. Bailey wrote: > Attacca literally means "attacks" (as in "attack the next song immediately)
This is an old post, but as I'm cleaning out my Finale mailbox I'd like to point out that attacca does NOT literally mean "attack". Attaccare is to connect, to join. The relevant English cognate here would be "attach". A few etymological tidbits for those who enjoy such things: - "Staccato" is a related word here. Often in Italian an "s" at the front of a word suggests an opposite (similar to our prefix "dis-"). Thus, attaccare = attach, staccare = detach, staccato = detached. - The English word "attack" is also related. It originates from a shortening of the Italian phrase "attaccare battaglia", to join in battle. As always, the caveat: Literal Italian translations can be interesting background information, but musical terms are not to be treated literally. They are long adapted to musical language, and they mean what they mean to musicians, whatever their etymological origin. mdl _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
