En animant

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff where the quickening begins, sometimes followed by dashes or by a combined dynamic (en animant et en augmentant). It is a continuing process that lasts until a new tempo word — au Mouvt, Tempo I, calmato — arrives.

How Composers Use It

The French animando: a gradual increase in tempo and energy, and in Debussy it usually travels with a crescendo (Clair de lune, Reflets dans l’eau). Join the two explicitly if they should grow together, and mark the arrival — a new tempo word, a dynamic peak — so the performer can pace the build. For a sudden change use plus animé instead.

Example

Debussy, Clair de lune (Suite bergamasque), piano, m. 37: “En animant”, printed with “più cresc.”; “calmato” follows at m. 43.

Related Terms