Ému

As Printed on a Score

Printed above a vocal or melodic line, usually inside a phrase — très ému, ému et tendre, grave, ému — and as the feminine émue (avec une douceur émue). It colours the passage until the next character word.

Also spelled: emu, émue

How Composers Use It

Ému — moved, touched — describes a performer overcome with feeling rather than projecting it: an unsteady warmth, quieter rather than louder. That is why Lili Boulanger pairs it with contenu (held in) and tendre. It is more intimate than avec émotion and less anguished than douloureux; place it at the emotional core of a song and keep the dynamic low.

Example

Boulanger, Clairières dans le ciel, “Nous nous aimerons tant”, voice, m. 3: “très ému et très contenu” at p, under the heading “Lent”.

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