The term _senza sordini_ is also occasionally found in old editions, indicating that the damper pedal is to be depressed, while _con sordini_ shows that it is to be released. These expressions are taken from a usage in music for stringed instruments, in which the term _con sordini_ means that the mute (a small clamp of metal, ivory or hardwood) is to be affixed to the bridge, this causing a modification in both power and quality of the tone. The damper on the piano does not in any way correspond to the mute thus used on stringed instruments, and the terms above explained as sometimes occurring in piano music are not to be recommended, even though Beethoven used them in this sense in all his earlier sonatas.
129. The words _una corda_ (lit.--one string) indicate that the "soft pedal" (the one at the left) is to be depressed, while the words _tre corde_ (lit. three strings) or _tutte le corde_ (all the strings) show that the same pedal is to be released. These expressions refer to the fact that on grand pianos the "soft pedal" when depressed moves the hammers to one side so that instead of striking three strings they strike only two (in the older pianos only one, hence _una corda_), all three strings (_tre corde_) being struck again after the release of the pedal.
130. Other terms relating either directly or indirectly to the subject of dynamics are:
_Con alcuna licenza_--with some degree of license.
_Con grand' espressione_--with great expression.
_Con melinconia_--with melancholy. [Transcriber's Note: archaic form of "malinconia".]
_Dolce e cantabile_--gently and with singing tone.
_Dolente_ } _Doloroso_ } plaintively or sorrowfully.
_Leggierissimo_--most lightly; almost a staccato.
_Lusingando_--caressingly, coaxingly, tenderly.
_Martellando_, _martellato_--strongly accented, (lit.--hammered).
_Parlando_--well accented or enunciated; applied to melody playing. (The word parlando means literally-speaking.)
_Pastorale_--in simple and unaffected style, (lit.--pastoral, rural).
_Recitativo_--well enunciated. (This meaning applies only in instrumental music in which a melody is to stand out above the accompaniment. For def. of recitative in vocal music, see p. 78.)
_Scherzando_, _scherzoso_, etc.--jokingly. These terms are derived from the word _scherzo_ meaning _a musical joke_.