Glossary of French Music Terms
FRENCH | TRANSLATION | FRENCH | TRANSLATION |
amusant | amusing | marée | tide |
animez, animé | getting faster (accelerando) | marqué | marked, accented |
animez | lively | menaçant | threatening |
au mouvement | resume original tempo (a tempo) | modéré | moderate |
augmentez | increase | montagne | mountain |
avec | with | moucheron | gnat |
bourdonnant | humming | moqueur | mockingly |
brouillard | fog | mouvement-retenu | slightly slower |
brume | haze | mystériux | mysterious |
calme | calm | nuances | shading, nuances |
cédez | slow down (ritenuto), slower | ombres | shadows |
chanté | singing | papillons | butterflies |
chat | cat | pédales | pedals |
comme une flûte de Pan | like a shepherd's flute | petite | little |
commencez lentement | begin slowly | peu à peu | gradually |
coulant | flowing | phare | lighthouse |
dans | in, with | la pluie soudaine | a sudden rainshower |
deux | two | plus | more |
doucement | softly, gently | plus près | coming closer |
doux | tender, sweet; soft, tender | poupée | doll |
égale et dangereux | even and dangereous | précisément | precisely |
et | and | première (1re) mouvement | Tempo I |
explosif | explosive | presque plus rien | practically inaudible |
expressif | expressive | presser | compress the tempo (stringendo) |
facile | easy | ralentir | to slow down (ritardando) |
fluide | fluidly | rapide | quick, quickly |
furieux | furiously | retardé | slower (meno mosso) |
gracieux | gracefully | retenant | hold back (ritardando) |
hésitant | hesitating | retenu | held back (meno mosso) |
humeur | humor | sec | dry |
images | pictures, images | soir | evening |
jusqu' á la fin | to the end | soleil | sun |
laisser vibrer | let ring | sonore | sonorous |
le, la, les | the | style | style |
léger | light, lightly | sur | on |
lent | slow (lento) | tendre | tender |
lointain | distant | très | very |
lumière | light | un, une | a |
lune | moon | un peu | a little |
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