Schüchtern

As Printed on a Score

Printed over a solo or section entry, usually lower-case and with a soft dynamic. It describes that entry and lapses when the phrase ends or a new character word appears.

Also spelled: schuechtern

How Composers Use It

Timid, shy: an entry that seems to hesitate — small in tone, tentative in shape. Mahler gives such words to woodwinds to characterise a figure the way a playwright gives stage directions. Pair it with pp and a little space around the entry; the effect depends on the player sounding unsure on purpose, so keep the line simple enough to shade.

Example

Mahler, Symphony No. 5, third movement (Scherzo), oboes, m. 329: “schüchtern” at pp.