Sans

As Printed on a Score

Printed before the word it rules out — sans ralentir, sans rigueur, sans lenteur, sans pédale, sans sourdine — either as a heading or over the passage concerned. Technical sans directions cancel an earlier avec (avec sourdine → sans sourdine) and stay in force until reversed; expressive ones last as long as the passage they head.

How Composers Use It

The French senza. A sans direction tells the performer what to avoid, which is often clearer than naming what to do: sans ralentir at a cadence prevents the habit of slowing there, sans rigueur frees a line without asking for a specific rubato. Use it where a performer’s instinct would go the wrong way. Two negatives in one direction are hard to read; say the positive instead.

Example

Debussy, Trois Chansons de Bilitis, “La flûte de Pan”, voice, m. 1: “Lent et sans rigueur de rythme” — slow, and free in rhythm, from the first bar.

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