Sans ralentir

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff at a point where a performer would naturally slow — a cadence, a phrase-end, the approach to a new section — and applying to that passage. It is a warning rather than a new tempo, and lapses once the danger point is passed.

How Composers Use It

The French senza rallentare. Use it exactly where habit would make the player slow down — the end of a phrase, a diminuendo, a modulation — when you want the music to run straight on. It is most effective just before a change of character that should arrive without preparation.

Example

Ravel, Miroirs No. 4, “Alborada del gracioso”, piano, m. 164: “sans ralentir” at p, two bars before “très sec et bien rythmé” at ppp.

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