En se perdant

As Printed on a Score

Printed after the last notes of a phrase or piece, often followed by dashes running to the point of silence, and sometimes lengthened (toujours en allant se perdant). It covers the passage it spans and ends with the sound itself.

How Composers Use It

En se perdant — losing itself — asks the sound to fade into nothing, usually with a slight slowing: the French perdendosi or morendo. It suits endings, distant echoes and phrases that should evaporate rather than cadence. Write the final dynamic (ppp) or a fermata so performers know where the fade ends, and do not add dim. as well — the word already contains it.

Example

Debussy, Mandoline, piano, m. 64: “toujours en allant se perdant” — a longer form of the same instruction, the sound to keep fading away.

Related Terms