Lointain

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff or over a part, often graded — très lointain — and usually with a soft dynamic. It describes a quality of sound for the passage and lasts until another character marking; instruments actually placed offstage get an explicit direction such as dans la coulisse.

How Composers Use It

It asks for sound that seems far away: very soft, veiled, without attack, as if heard from a distance. Ravel and Debussy use it to push a passage into the background or to suggest memory. It is not merely pp — the player removes presence and edge as well as volume. Give the dynamic too, and use it where the texture leaves room for the distance to be heard.

Example

Ravel, Pavane pour une infante défunte, piano, m. 13: “Très lointain”, at pp, a bar after the return of the “1er Mouvt”.

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