Also sostinente. [It., pres. pple. of sostenere SUSTAIN v.] A device or contrivance attached to a pianoforte for the purpose of producing sustained notes like an organ. Also attrib.
1840. Penny Cycl., XVIII. 142/2. Mr. Mott’s sostinente was an application of a cylinder and silk loops to an upright piano-forte. The … tones came forth somewhat like the tones of the seraphine.
1881. Morning Post, 2 June. Messrs. Brinsmead have patented … the sostenente sounding board, capable of sustaining sound for 60 seconds.
1885. Encycl. Brit., XIX. 76/1, note. Mott … attracted much attention by a piano with sostenente effect … in 1817. Ibid. But a sostenente piano … is no longer a true piano.
