The normal German equivalent of the Italian verb staccare (‘to separate or detach; to play staccato’); the noun Stoss was used to mean staccato. Like its Italian counterpart it implies not only separation but also, in many cases, accent. Stoss means literally a blow or shove and the verb means to push, shove or jab. The prefix ab- indicates ‘off’. J.G. Walther, in his Musicalisches Lexicon, 1732, made a distinction between staccato and stoccato deriving the one from staccare (Ger. entkleben, ablösen), and the other from stocco (‘a stick’; Ger. Stock), which he considered to imply that the note was pushed or jabbed (gestossen). Walther's etymology, whether accurate or not, emphasizes the dual meaning of the term staccato in German usage. It was often, especially in the context of keyboard playing, used merely to indicate that notes were to be shortened; thus Türk equated the noun Stossen with Absetzen and was at pains to point out that ‘notes that are to be played gently may be staccatoed [gestossen]’ (Clavierschule, 1789). Reichardt, on the other hand, referring to violin playing, associated a degree of ‘sharpness’ (Schärfe) of the bow with notes that were to be staccatoed (abgestossen), though this was partly connected with tempo, and he warned that in adagio even on notes marked with the sign for Abstossen the bow should not entirely leave the string (Ueber die Pflichten des Ripien-Violinisten, 1776, pp.25–6).
See also Bow, §II, 2(vii).
CLIVE BROWN