Sans vibrato: meaning and use in music

How is sans vibrato played?

Remove deliberate vibrato for the marked span and keep the sound supported, stable and responsive. String players stop the left-hand oscillation; winds and singers use instrument- or voice-appropriate control rather than one shared mechanism. A straight tone can still contain small natural fluctuations, so the goal is the perceptible absence of intentional vibrato, not mathematical immobility. The instruction is comparable to senza vibrato or non vibrato and may serve historical or modern colour aims, but it does not automatically mean white, cold, soft or expressionless.

How does sans vibrato sound?

The listener hears a pure, flat, shimmer-free tone, often austere or starkly exposed.

In context

Vibrato research distinguishes rate, extent, onset, amplitude and timbral effects and notes that a perceived straight tone can retain small fluctuations. Musicca directly gives sans vib.; one score legend and one academic discussion use N.V. for sans or non-vibrato. Neither form reached three independent exact expansions for this French headword, so sans vibrato remains written in full. Historical use of continuous versus selective vibrato remains debated and cannot supply one automatic colour.

Equivalent terms

• EN without vibrato
• DA uden vibrato