(It.: ‘whispering’).
(1)
A special effect used in harp playing, available only on the double-action
pedal instrument. The term was first used in various solo harp works by Elias
Parish Alvars (1808–49), who is credited with its invention. Easily performed,
yet sounding extremely virtuoso, it involves setting the pedals so that the
strings to be played can be doubled at the same pitch by their enharmonic
equivalents, with both hands playing alternately on adjacent strings, e.g. D
–F–A in the right hand alternating with C
–E–G. Most typically played very fast and pianissimo,
it is most effective in the harp’s middle and upper registers. Notable
orchestral examples include Chabrier’s España (1883), Strauss’s Don
Juan (1888–9), where it is spelt ‘bispiglando’, and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci
(1892), where there is an extended bisbigliando passage in Nedda’s Act 1
scene ii aria ‘Stridono lassu’.
(2) Term used for a timbral trill in woodwind playing, achieved by oscillating between alternative fingerings producing the same pitch.
ANN GRIFFITHS