Which term refers to a musical passage gradually dying away?

The term that describes a musical passage gradually dying away is smorzando. This term conveys a sense of becoming softer in both volume and intensity, often implying a gentle fading or a sense of ending. It adds an expressive quality to the music, suggesting an emotional withdrawal as the sound diminishes.

While morendo also refers to a gradual dying away, it typically carries a more nuanced implication of an ethereal or fading sound, often associated with a deep sense of emotion. Diminuendo and decrescendo both signify a reduction in volume as well, but they do not specifically evoke the connotation of an emotional or expressive decrease as smorzando does. Instead, they may suggest a straightforward decrease in volume without the added depth of feeling that smorzando provides. Understanding the subtleties in these terms can enhance interpretative skills in performance and composition.