Sempre non legato

As Printed on a Score

Printed above or below the staff, usually a few bars after a first non legato, as a reminder. It holds until legato or a new articulation word is printed.

How Composers Use It

Reminds players not to drift back into legato in a long passage of separated notes — a real risk in fugal or running writing, where the line invites joining. It is more precise than staccato for music that must be detached yet full-length. Use it where the separation is structural, keeping voices distinct in counterpoint.

Example

Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 in D minor, fourth movement, first violins, in the double fugue marked “Allegro energico, sempre ben marcato”: “non legato”, renewed four bars later as “sempre non legato”.

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