salendo

Salendo is the Italian term meaning rising or ascending, derived from the verb salire. In music notation, salendo is used as a directive indicating a gradual upward movement—whether in pitch, dynamics, or melodic contour—depending on context. It appears in a minority of scores, especially older or editor-created editions that maintain Italian performance terms, and is less common than more explicit markings such as crescendo or accelerando. The exact interpretation of salendo is context dependent: it may signal a rising melodic line, an increase in volume, a growth in intensity, or a swelling of texture as the music proceeds.

In printed scores, salendo is typically placed above or below the staff near the affected passage. Composers and editors may accompany it with other indicators (for example, dynamic marks or tempo marks) to clarify the intended effect. Because it is a qualitative direction, performers rely on the surrounding notation and the performer’s musical judgment to realize the rise.

Outside music, salendo is the present participle of the Italian verb salire, meaning going up or ascending, used in everyday language to describe physical elevation or ascent.

Salendo therefore occupies a niche among Italian musical directives. It shares semantic space with terms like crescendo and calando but carries a more general sense of upward movement rather than a specific dynamic target.