A fermata (notated as an arc with a dot over a note) indicates that a note or rest should be held longer than its nominal duration — for exactly as long as the musical sense of the performer or conductor suggests. It is one of the few moments when the even flow of the metre is deliberately broken.
The fermata is a powerful expressive means. At a climax it lets a sound “hang,” filling the moment with tension or contemplation; at the end of a phrase it seems to hold the breath before a new thought; on a rest it creates an eloquent silence. In J.S. Bach's chorales, fermatas mark the ends of lines of text. The art of holding a fermata “for exactly as long as needed” is a subtle mark of musical taste: too short, and the moment is smudged; too long, and the tension slackens. The fermata is the performer's power over time itself.
