Brillant

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff or over a part, usually at a loud dynamic and for passagework or a climactic line. It sets a brilliant character until another marking replaces it; it also appears in titles (Valse brillante).

How Composers Use It

The French counterpart of brillante: bright, sparkling, projected tone with crisp articulation, often in a virtuoso figure. Use it where a line should shine out of the texture; in strings it suggests energetic bowing and full use of the upper register. In a title it describes the style of the whole piece rather than a passage.

Example

Boulanger, D’un matin de printemps, violin, m. 176: “brillant”, at ff, with p in the following bar.

Related Terms