Retenu

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff where the holding back takes effect, at once rather than gradually; graded forms are un peu retenu and très retenu. It lasts until a tempo word releases it — au Mouvt, 1er Mouvt, a tempo — often only a bar or two later.

How Composers Use It

The French ritenuto: held back immediately, as a state, where ralentir and en retenant slow gradually. That makes it ideal for a single phrase-end, a word in a song or a cadence that should be weighted. Because its effect is immediate, place it exactly where the holding back starts, and mark the release just as precisely, or the next phrase begins in limbo.

Example

Debussy, Trois Chansons de France, “Rondel: Le temps a laissé son manteau”, voice, m. 30: “Retenu”, in a song headed “Joyeux et animé”.

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