Rêveusement

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff or over a voice part, usually at a soft dynamic. It sets a dreamy manner for the passage and lasts until the next character marking.

Also spelled: reveusement

How Composers Use It

It asks for a dreamlike, inward quality: soft and unhurried, with blurred edges and gentle rubato. Debussy places it under a song heading of Lent et caressant, layering a further shade onto the song’s character. Like rêveur, it describes manner rather than tempo, so a slower pace still needs a tempo word.

Example

Debussy, Ariettes oubliées, “C’est l’extase langoureuse”, voice, m. 3: “rêveusement”, at p, under the song’s heading “Lent et caressant”.