Tom in London (asker) Oct 29, 2021:

Discussion closed I've got the answer I want now, thanks.

Ian Mansbridge Oct 29, 2021:

Fair enough. Here's a musical glossary that is often helpful, though not in this case: https://www.dolmetsch.com/defsi.htm

philgoddard Oct 29, 2021:

Thanks, Ian That's what I was saying, but Tom is just being rude. And if he knew what impasto means, and that my suggestion (not "guess") is wrong, why did he post the question?

Tom in London (asker) Oct 29, 2021:

@ Ian That would be completely wrong. Please folks- no hunches or guesses. I need precise musical technical terminology

Ian Mansbridge Oct 29, 2021:

Based on your single sentence, I'd suggest that using the Italian word would sound a little pretentious and unnecessarily opaque - personally I'd go for Phil's 'swamped'.

Tom in London (asker) Oct 29, 2021:

@PLF thanks a million for doing this work for me!

P.L.F. Persio Oct 29, 2021:

@Phil: I know it sounds weird, but I found it also here: https://books.google.nl/books?id=vZk6DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA83&lpg=PA... on p. 83: "and the orchestration—a rich impasto of woodwinds, harps, and pseudo-harps (pizzicato strings)–is gorgeous."

Tom in London (asker) Oct 29, 2021:

Guessing I know what "impasto" means, Phil.

P.L.F. Persio Oct 29, 2021:

You're welcome, Tom. I'm still looking for that definitive glossary though.

philgoddard Oct 29, 2021:

I've never seen this term used in music, and I suspect even musical people might not understand it. It's most common in art, where the Italian word is used in English to mean thick paint.
How about "drowned out/swamped/overwhelmed" for "soffocata dall’impasto"?

Tom in London (asker) Oct 29, 2021:

Thanks PLF So "impasto" in Italian would probably do the job - I think that's it - thanks.

P.L.F. Persio Oct 29, 2021:

In the same book: p. 519, a thick impasto, this time about Schumann.

P.L.F. Persio Oct 29, 2021:

@Tom: Here's the definition of impasto, according to Treccani: 6. fig. Nella terminologia musicale, la combinazione di suoni emessi da due o più strumenti di differente timbro e tipo (per es., l’impasto degli oboi con i corni e con i violoncelli), di grande rilievo nella strumentazione ottocentesca. https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/impasto2/.

Then I found this reference: https://books.google.nl/books?id=lozBiI1ehiIC&pg=PA97&lpg=PA...
on p. 97, while writing about Bruckner's symphonies, the author mentions a Wagnerian impasto. I'm going to look for a glossary anyway.

Tom in London (asker) Oct 29, 2021:

OK try the complete sentence "Nella stesura del brano, feci in modo che la chitarra non venisse mai soffocata dall’impasto con l’orchestra, preferendo invece di infittire il dialogo con essa, in alternanza."

Lara Barnett Oct 29, 2021:

@ Tom More context would be really useful. It could be just something like "lost in the mix of sounds from the orchestra..." - i.e. not technically related at all.

philgoddard Oct 29, 2021:

Tom Could we have the full context, please. This is a fragment of a sentence.