How to Use legato in a Sentence

legato

noun
  • Still, the legato elegance and vocal weightiness of his singing have their own rewards.
    — Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 1 Jan. 2018
  • The first movement has lyrical legato playing, kind of rhapsodic.
    — Paul Freeman, The Mercury News, 5 Apr. 2017
  • Soltani’s luscious legato tone in the short, slow introduction to the third movement was capped by an exuberant finale.
    — Washington Post, 23 Jan. 2020
  • Nor is his phrasing always the most pleasing—staccato too often supersedes legato.
    — David Mermelstein, WSJ, 17 Oct. 2017
  • Even more important is the development of legato, the seamless movement from one note to the next, requiring a steady and even emission of breath.
    — James Jorden, New York Times, 20 Sep. 2017
  • Her Azucena is a creation of soaring high notes, fluttering trills, seductive legato, chilling low tones.
    — Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2018
  • If his tone was sometimes assertive to the point of brashness, his amazing technical skills – among them a legato line that that few horn players possess – polished the music to a high gloss.
    — Marcus Overton, sandiegouniontribune.com, 16 June 2017
  • Luisi’s Dallas performances include more legato and softer sound than his rendition a decade earlier at the Met.
    — ABC News, 10 June 2026
  • Elsewhere, Kang Wollett spun out long, legato solos in the Largo by Ives, making the dark romanticism sing.
    — Tim Diovanni, Dallas News, 12 July 2019
  • From my seat the balance favored Ma's fulsome tone by a slight margin; Ax's legato playing sounded a bit watery even with the lid on his Steinway fully opened.
    — Richard S. Ginell, latimes.com, 5 Mar. 2018
  • This is a two-part skill; his superb legato (or connected articulation) on the keyboard was heightened by skillful deployment of both the sustaining and the soft pedal.
    — Marcus Overton, sandiegouniontribune.com, 8 Jan. 2018
  • The comedian uses the staccato rim shot of a drum; the cinematic tearjerker uses legato strains of violins.
    — Big Think, 23 Sep. 2025
  • In long stretches of coloratura, especially, her legato, while smooth, retained remarkable clarity of pitch and evenness of rhythm, flickering like a lambent flame.
    — James R. Oestreich, New York Times, 5 May 2017
  • Gerstein’s descending figures might have managed the smoothest legato in the business, and Hagen faced the great stretch of tumult in the first movement with absolute clarity and composure.
    — Peter Dobrin, Philly.com, 22 Mar. 2018
  • Its melody unfolds in legato phrases that drift across the bar line; its harmonic language leans toward George Gershwin’s chromaticism more than Hank Williams’s honky-tonk.
    — New York Times, 28 Apr. 2026
  • Jones played the demanding solo part with apparent ease, beauty of tone and, in the Andante, a lovely feel for legato playing, turning a fairly standard-issue slow movement into a noble aria.
    — Zachary Lewis, cleveland.com, 11 May 2018
  • Scott Hostetler traced a melting legato line in the famous English horn solo of the largo, although Muti’s easing the pace later in the slow movement threatened to stifle forward impetus.
    — John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, 13 Apr. 2018
  • Producers like Shungu, QThree, Mike Shabb, and Elsesser himself let their legato phrases repeat ad infinitum, gently bobbing like a dinghy in agitated waters.
    — Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 10 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'legato.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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