Légèrement

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff, rarely alone: it usually trails another word, and that word decides its sense. Attached to a tempo verb (cédez légèrement, retenez légèrement) it means slightly; describing touch (le plus légèrement possible) it means lightly. Its scope is that of the word it modifies.

Also spelled: legerement

How Composers Use It

Because légèrement has two senses, place it where context leaves no doubt. After cédez, retenez or animez it measures the amount of change — a gentler alternative to un peu. As a description of touch it is simply the adverb of léger. If you want lightness during a tempo change, write léger as a separate character word, so the player does not read a smaller rallentando instead.

Example

Ravel, Miroirs No. 4, “Alborada del gracioso”, piano, m. 129: “cédez légèrement” — here the word means slightly, not lightly, inside an f passage.

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