Loading…
Loading…
Tenderly.
Printed above the staff or over the voice, usually with a soft dynamic, for a passage or a whole piece. It describes manner and lasts until the next character marking; it also serves as a title, as in Satie’s song Tendrement.
It asks for tenderness: warm, gentle tone and legato, with affectionate shaping and no harsh accents. The French counterpart of teneramente or con tenerezza, it suits lullabies, love songs and quiet lyrical moments. Tendre (the adjective) and avec tendresse do the same work; any of them combines naturally with a dynamic.
Tendrement is one of 1755 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
Browse the full dictionary →