En glissant

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff or over a figure where notes should slide into one another; it may accompany a drawn glissando line or describe a light, gliding touch over written-out notes. It applies to the figure or passage it marks.

How Composers Use It

It asks for a gliding motion: in strings or voice a slide between pitches; at the piano either a true glissando or a smooth, skimming touch across a figure. Because the meaning depends on the instrument and the figure, make it explicit — draw the glissando line where you want a slide, and keep en glissant for manner when the notes are written out.

Example

Boulanger, Clairières dans le ciel, “Par ce que j’ai souffert”, piano, m. 24: “en glissant”, with “Un peu animé” in the same bar, after a subito pp in the bar before.

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