style brisé
French composer
Definition
Broken style — the texture of French lute music translated to the keyboard: chords spread arpeggiated across the registers, inner voices suspended into neighbouring beats, a texture that seems to float freely between melody and harmony. Froberger absorbed this style from French lutenists and used it particularly in his allemandes.
Interpretive Guidance
Style brisé requires a generous sustain pedal (or sustained fingers on the harpsichord) so that spread notes accumulate into rich harmonic clouds. The effect should be of a lute improvising — free, floating, with no rigid pulse. Avoid any heavy accentuation on the beat.