En retenant

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff in lower case, sometimes in parentheses or extended — en retenant peu à peu, en retenant jusqu’à la fin — and sometimes followed by a dashed line. It works gradually, like ritardando, and ends at Au mouvement, a tempo or a new tempo word, unless it runs to the end of the piece.

How Composers Use It

En retenant is gradual — holding back progressively, the French counterpart of ritardando — whereas retenu means held back at once, like ritenuto. Chausson and Debussy use it to ease a phrase toward a cadence or a new section. Say where the easing ends (au mouvement, a tempo), or extend it with jusqu’à la fin when it should run to the close.

Example

Chausson, 7 Mélodies, Op. 2, No. 2 “Le Charme”, voice, m. 6: “en retenant”, a bar after “un peu plus lent” and two bars before a “rit.”

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