Nicht teilen

As Printed on a Score

Printed over a string part at the first double stop or chord it concerns, often with an exclamation mark (“nicht teilen !”), and in every section affected. It holds for that passage; a later get. or geteilt reverses it.

How Composers Use It

String sections habitually divide double stops between desk partners; nicht teilen forbids that, so each player sounds both notes — a fuller, more effortful, more resonant attack. Use it for forceful chords and accented passages, and check that every chord is playable as a double stop in that position. Its opposite, geteilt, gives a cleaner and smoother voicing at the cost of weight.

Example

Mahler, Symphony No. 5, first movement, m. 12: “nicht teilen !” is printed in the first and second violins and the violas alike, a bar before an ff.

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