brano

Brano is an Italian noun that denotes a piece, portion, or excerpt of a larger work. It is used across both musical and textual contexts to refer to a part rather than the whole.

In music, un brano refers to a musical piece or track within an album, collection, or larger composition. A brano can be instrumental or vocal, and it is common in discography and program notes. The term often contrasts with canzone, which typically implies a song with lyrics, whereas brano can also denote instrumental passages or shorter segments within a larger work.

In prose and journalism, brano means a passage or excerpt from a text, such as a section of a book, article, or speech. It is used when citing or discussing a specific portion of a larger written work.

Outside of Italian usage, brano is rarely employed in English except as a direct reference to Italian music or literature. When translating, English speakers would typically use piece, track, excerpt, or passage, depending on the context. The plural form in Italian is brani.

Examples of use include: “Questo brano è tratto dall’album,” meaning “This track is taken from the album,” and “Leggi questo brano del romanzo,” meaning “Read this passage from the novel.”