Un peu en dehors

As Printed on a Score

Printed above or beside the line to be brought slightly forward — between piano staves or over an orchestral part — often with the hand named (la m.g. un peu en dehors). It lasts for that line’s phrase or until a new dynamic or character word.

How Composers Use It

Un peu en dehors asks for gentle projection: the line should be noticed, not announced. It suits countermelodies, inner voices and quiet solos inside soft textures, where a full en dehors would break the surface. Debussy and Ravel use it at p and pp; give the dynamic of the whole texture and let this phrase set the relative balance.

Example

Debussy, Ariettes oubliées, “Il pleure dans mon cœur”, piano, m. 3: “un peu en dehors” at p, two bars after the opening pp.

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