Re: Smorzando
Reply #6 –
That's odd. Although I've seen it in piano music, I would think that it should be more common in instruments that can shade their tones. Smorzando means "to smother". I don't know how to do that on a piano other than to get suddenly quiet. There are a host of more common ways to indicate that on a piano, e.g., fp, or subito p.
In any case, it is a dynamic and should be printed in the same font as other dynamics, usually Staff Italic.
For a horn player, this might be a mark to put the mute in.