Meaning of stretto | Babel Free

Definitions

1. The presence of two close or overlapping statements of the subject of a fugue, especially towards the end.
   countable, uncountable
2. An acceleration in the tempo of an opera that produces an ending climax.
   countable, uncountable

Examples

“In classical music there are, as the analytical programs tell us, first subjects and second subjects, free fantasias, recapitulations, and codas; there are fugues, with counter-subjects, strettos, and pedal points; there are passacaglias on ground basses, canons ad hypodiapente, and other ingenuities, which have, after all, stood or fallen by their prettiness as much as the simplest folk-tune.”

CEFR level