Ohne

As Printed on a Score

Cancels a device or excludes a nuance: ohne Dämpfer, ohne Pedal, ohne cresc., ohne Ausdruck. For a device it is printed over the part where the device comes off, after enough rest to remove it, and holds until a mit direction returns. In headings it qualifies a tempo (“Ruhig bewegt, ohne zu eilen”).

How Composers Use It

The German senza. As a cancellation (ohne Dämpfer) it is unambiguous; as a prohibition (ohne cresc.) it tells the player not to swell where a rising line would naturally invite it — a precise way to keep a phrase flat and still. Mahler’s ohne Ausdruck asks for deliberate blankness, which is itself an expressive choice and needs to be placed where the contrast will be heard.

Example

Mahler, Kindertotenlieder, No. 4, “Oft denk’ ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen”: the heading “Ruhig bewegt, ohne zu eilen” is printed with the Italian “Tranquillo con moto, senza fretta”, ohne matching senza word for word.

Related Terms