Effleuré

As Printed on a Score

Printed above or below the passage it affects, often with a qualifier — effleuré sans nuances — and lasting for that passage, until a new touch or dynamic direction. It describes touch rather than volume, so it usually sits beside pp.

Also spelled: en effleurant

How Composers Use It

It asks for a ghostly, surface sound: notes grazed rather than played, often without dynamic shading. French composers use it for shimmer and distance; Lili Boulanger adds sans nuances to keep the surface flat. On strings it suggests a light, floating bow (compare flautando). Keep such passages technically easy, since so light a touch leaves little margin for uneven tone or missed notes.

Example

Lili Boulanger, Clairières dans le ciel, “Nous nous aimerons tant”, piano, m. 14: “effleuré sans nuances”, with “un peu pressé” in the same bar and “cédez” two bars later.

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