En mesure

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff where strict time resumes after a free or yielding passage — a cédez, a cadenza, a colla voce — and in force until the next free direction. It cancels rubato, sans rigueur or cédez but does not change the tempo itself.

How Composers Use It

The French a battuta or misurato: back in strict time. It is the natural partner of cédez and sans rigueur, and Ravel uses the pair twice in the Pavane, yielding and then restoring the beat. Mark it whenever a free passage ends, especially in ensembles, where the players need a shared moment to lock back together.

Example

Ravel, Pavane pour une infante défunte, piano, m. 8: “En mesure”, two bars after “Cédez”; the same pairing returns at m. 35.

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