Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An elaborate, ornamental melodic flourish interpolated into an aria or other vocal piece.
- noun An extended virtuosic section for the soloist usually near the end of a movement of a concerto.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In music, a more or less elaborate flourish or showy passage introduced, often extemporaneously, just before the end of an extended aria or concerto, or as a connective between an intermediate and a final division.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Mus.) A parenthetic flourish or flight of ornament in the course of a piece, commonly just before the final cadence.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun music A part of a piece of music, such as a
concerto , that is very decorative and is played by a single musician.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a brilliant solo passage occurring near the end of a piece of music
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word cadenza.
Examples
-
The novel implicitly asks that we take the reading of a novel to be a unique experience, not just another rote variation on an a pre-established theme, just as Laster's "cadenza" is unlike any previously heard.
Experimental Fiction 2010
-
Schnittke's cadenza for Beethoven's violin concerto ... which begins with the Joachim cadenza from the Brahms!!
Salvati dunque e scolpati Matthew Guerrieri 2007
-
The word cadenza, Hoffman explains, comes from the word cadence - a closing sequence in a piece of music.
NPR Topics: News 2009
-
Part II: Allegro Part III: Tempo I This becomes clear in the solo "cadenza," an Impressionist reverie in which a complex mood is evoked, requiring a titanic struggle to be played with a single hand.
-
And promptly tell your poet that the rhyme "cadenza"
Punch, Or The London Charivari, Volume 101, July 11, 1891 Various
-
Denk deserves credit for using Beethoven's long-winded cadenza and giving it a blood and thunder performance out of a Liszt drawing room, which may have cemented his relationship with the audience.
Laurence Vittes: Jeremy Denk Meets Gustavo and Beethoven on the Hill at Mouse Hall Laurence Vittes 2011
-
Denk deserves credit for using Beethoven's long-winded cadenza and giving it a blood and thunder performance out of a Liszt drawing room, which may have cemented his relationship with the audience.
Laurence Vittes: Jeremy Denk Meets Gustavo and Beethoven on the Hill at Mouse Hall Laurence Vittes 2011
-
Her harmonically exploratory, third movement cadenza sounded freshly composed on the spot, and her dreamy, exotically pitch-bent treatment of the concerto's slow movement (against very Middle Eastern-sounding color from the droning bass and skittering arpeggios on the lutes) proved an atmospheric delight.
English Concert at Library of Congress Anne Midgette 2010
-
Denk deserves credit for using Beethoven's long-winded cadenza and giving it a blood and thunder performance out of a Liszt drawing room, which may have cemented his relationship with the audience.
Laurence Vittes: Jeremy Denk Meets Gustavo and Beethoven on the Hill at Mouse Hall Laurence Vittes 2011
-
Denk deserves credit for using Beethoven's long-winded cadenza and giving it a blood and thunder performance out of a Liszt drawing room, which may have cemented his relationship with the audience.
Laurence Vittes: Jeremy Denk Meets Gustavo and Beethoven on the Hill at Mouse Hall Laurence Vittes 2011
chained_bear commented on the word cadenza
"There was no point in preparing a careful, ordered statement; everything would depend on the first moments, on the presence or absence of French officers, on his reception; and from that point on it would be an improvisation, a cadenza. He whistled the Montserrat Salve Regina, embroidering the theme."
—Patrick O'Brian, The Surgeon's Mate, 254
February 8, 2008
sionnach commented on the word cadenza
You mean this is *not* an article of furniture?
February 8, 2008
reesetee commented on the word cadenza
It is if you whistle it the right way.
February 8, 2008
dailyword commented on the word cadenza
This word was used in the movie "Peter Pan."
June 21, 2012