Music Notation Question in Bach-Busoni Chaconne

[swilliams002]

What does "fest." mean in piano music? I've encountered it in (I think) two places in the Bach-Busoni Chaconne, but I can't seem to find the Italian word it's an abbreviation of, or what it signifies in music. I can show a picture of it in context in that helps.
Thanks.

[andrewuk]

"Fest" is German for "firm, steadfast" - there are some other German terms in the score along with Italian, and there doesn't seem to be a full stop after it in the versions I've looked at, so it might not be an abbreviation.

[swilliams002]

"Fest" is German for "firm, steadfast" - there are some other German terms in the score along with Italian, and there doesn't seem to be a full stop after it in the versions I've looked at, so it might not be an abbreviation.

Thank you!
Now that I'm looking at the score again, I see that you're right - it's not an abbreviation at all! For some reason, the possibility of it being a German word never occurred to me, even though Busoni does use German notations as well.