Here’s the ABRSM French Music Glossary, from Eric Taylor’s “The AB Guide to Music Theory”. You’re likely to come across many of these terms in Romantic, 19th Century classical music. Nationalism was exhibited through composers using their own languages for the performance directions, rather than the traditional Italian, which reflected the era of colonization.
| Term | Definition |
| a | At, to, by, for, in the style of |
| a deux, a 2 | for 2 performers or instruments, or that a part is played by two instruments |
| a la pointe | use the bow at the point |
| amour | love |
| anime | animated, lively |
| apaise | calmed |
| assez | enough, sufficiently |
| au talon | use the bow at the heel |
| avee | with |
| brilliant | brilliant |
| calme | calm, tranquil |
| capricieux | in a whimsical, fanciful style |
| cedez | yield, relax the speed |
| comme | as, similar to |
| douce, doux | soft, sweet |
| emporte | fiery, impetuous |
| en animant | becoming more lively |
| en cedant | yielding |
| en dehors | prominent, a melody to make a melody to stand out |
| enleves | take up, take off, a direction for a pedal or a mute |
| en mesure | in time |
| en pressant | hurrying on |
| en retenant | holding back |
| en serrant | becoming quicker |
| expressif | expressive |
| et | and |
| facile | easy |
| fin | end |
| flottant | floating |
| gracieux | graceful |
| grave | very slow, solemn |
| joyeux | joyful |
| legerement | light, nimble |
| lent | slow |
| librement | freely |
| lointain | distant |
| main | hand |
| mais | but |
| martele | strongly accented |
| modere | at a moderate speed |
| moins | less |
| movement, mouvt | movement, motion |
| non | not |
| pedale | pedal |
| peu | little |
| plus | more |
| presser, pressez | hurry |
| ralentir | slacken, slow down |
| retenu | held back, little slower |
| sans | without |
| sautille | springing, a lightly bouncing bow technique on string instruments |
| sec | crisp, suppress the sound as quickly as possible, do not allow it to continue to reverberate |
| seul | alone |
| serrer, serrez | hurry, quicken, equivalent to stringendo |
| sonore | resonant, with rich tone |
| sourdine | mute |
| sous | under |
| tres | very |
| un | one |
| vif | lively |
| vite | quick |
| vivement | lively, quick |
| voix | voice |
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