Meaning & use
agitato music
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountablemusictechnical
Music played in a restless, excited, hurried way, as instructed by the Italian marking agitato.
Grammar: Uncountable, so it takes a singular verb: agitato music often sounds breathless.
Patterns
- agitato music in something
- play something as agitato music
The finale opens with agitato music that never settles into a steady beat.
Critics praised the pianist for the agitato music in the storm scene.
In the score the whole passage is marked agitato, and the orchestra played it that way.
adjectivenot comparablemusictechnical
Written or played with a restless, agitated character, as shown by the marking agitato on the page.
Grammar: Used after a linking verb or before a noun: the coda is agitato; an agitato coda.
Patterns
- be agitato
- an agitato passage
- mark something agitato
The second theme is agitato, with quick repeated notes in the strings.
Her teacher told her to keep the left hand agitato while the melody stays calm.
The composer marks the closing bars agitato to show the character's panic.
Common combinations
- marked agitato
- The whole middle section is marked agitato in the score.
- an agitato passage
- She practiced the agitato passage slowly before speeding it up.
- play something agitato
- The conductor asked the strings to play the opening agitato.
- agitato tempo
- The agitato tempo makes the music feel short of breath.
- suddenly agitato
- After a quiet bar the music turns suddenly agitato.
Synonyms and how they differ
- agitated
- A general word for a restless feeling or sound; it describes the effect, while agitato is the specific instruction written by the composer.
- restless
- Describes music that will not settle, but it is a plain description, not a technical marking in a score.
- turbulent
- Stronger and more dramatic, often used for large orchestral writing rather than for a small marking like agitato.
Opposites
Word family
- agitation noun
- A state of nervous excitement or restless movement, also used for stirring a liquid.
- agitate verb
- To make someone anxious or upset, or to stir something around.
- agitated adjective
- Feeling or showing nervous excitement.
- agitato adverb
- The Italian direction itself, used in scores to tell a player to play in an agitated way.
Commonly confused: agitato music or agitated? agitato music or staccato?
agitato music vs agitated
Agitated is an ordinary English adjective for a person or a mood; agitato is an Italian musical term that appears mainly in scores and reviews.
agitato music vs staccato
Staccato tells you to play notes short and detached; agitato tells you the overall mood should be restless, whatever the note lengths.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'agitato' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Agitato is a musical marking, so it belongs with a musical figure or passage. Option 2 needs the ordinary adjective 'agitated' for a person's feelings, option 3 needs the verb 'agitate' meaning to stir, and option 4 again needs 'agitated' for a noisy, restless place.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “agitato music”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.