Serré

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff in two senses. As a tempo word (Serré, un peu serré) it means pressed forward and lasts until a rit., an a tempo or a new tempo word. Applied to a figure (le triolet serré) it asks for that figure to be played tightly, without spreading, and concerns only that figure.

Also spelled: serre

How Composers Use It

Serré is the state reached by serrez: the tempo held in a pressed, tight condition. Use it for a short urgent stretch and follow it with a release (rit., a tempo), as Lili Boulanger does in D’un matin de printemps. In its rhythmic sense it is a precise instruction for figures — grace notes, triplets, ornaments — that you want compressed rather than given their full value.

Example

Lili Boulanger, D’un matin de printemps, piccolo, m. 64: “Un peu serré”, released two bars later by “rit.”

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