Risoluto - James Barnes

Risoluto is a music term of Italian derivation, first appearing in the mid 1700s. A great many musical terms such as this are in Italian, because many of the important composers from the Renaissance to the Baroque were from the geographic area known today as Italy and spoke some form of Italian. Consequently, performance markings in their published music, widely disseminated through the rest of Europe, were in the language that they best understood. Music marked in this manner is to be played firmly and decisively with firm resolve and little variance from the marked tempo. It can be seen that while there are several stylistic changes in this piece, the tempo varies not a bit, holding firm at Allegro vivo, quarter note at 120, from first measure to last.