Meaning & use
mesto music
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Meanings
noununcountabletechnicalmusic
A style or instruction in music meaning sad, mournful, and played with deep feeling.
Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun or as a score marking; not used with 'a' or in the plural.
Patterns
- play something mesto
- a passage marked mesto
The slow movement is marked mesto, so the strings play with a heavy, sorrowful tone.
Critics praised the pianist for capturing the mesto music of the final bars.
adjectivenot comparabletechnicalmusic
Played or sung in a sad, expressive manner.
Grammar: Comes after the noun it describes or stands alone as a direction, as in 'the passage is mesto'.
Patterns
- a mesto passage
- the tempo is mesto
The conductor asked for a mesto feel in the opening theme.
Her voice was mesto, almost tearful, in the closing phrase.
Common combinations
- mesto passage
- The cellist lingered over the mesto passage before the finale.
- marked mesto
- The score is marked mesto at the return of the main theme.
- mesto mood
- A mesto mood hangs over the whole second movement.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dolente
- Another Italian musical direction for a grieving, sorrowful sound; it is even rarer and more specific than mesto.
- lugubrious
- An English adjective for something gloomy and mournful; it can describe music but also faces, tones, and occasions, so it is broader.
Opposites
Commonly confused: mesto music or mestizo?
mesto music vs mestizo
A person of mixed ancestry, especially in Latin America; it looks similar but has nothing to do with music.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'mesto' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Mesto' is a musical direction for a sad, mournful style, so it fits the composer's marking. Option 0 is wrong because mesto music is not dance music; options 2 and 3 confuse the word with unrelated nouns.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mesto music”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.