Sonore

As Printed on a Score

Printed beside or under the dynamic, often with a qualifier — très sonore, plus sonore, joyeux et très sonore. It lasts for the phrase or passage it describes, until a contrasting colour word (doux, éteint, effacé) or a new dynamic.

How Composers Use It

Sonore asks for full, resonant tone — rich in overtones and carrying — which is not the same as loud. That is why it can appear with mp or p: a harp chord let ring, a piano bass allowed to bloom under the pedal. Use plus sonore for more body without a written crescendo, and give a real dynamic so players know the level the richness lives at.

Example

Boulanger, D’un matin de printemps, harp, m. 54: “sonore” printed beside an mp — fullness of tone without a loud dynamic.

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