capriccio

enUK

ca·pric·cio

C0090300 (kə-prē′chō, -chē-ō′)n. pl. ca·pric·cios 1. Music An instrumental work with an improvisatory style and a free form.2. A prank; a caper.3. A whim.

[Italian; see caprice.]

capriccio

(kəˈprɪtʃɪˌəʊ) or

caprice

n, pl -priccios, -pricci (-ˈpriːtʃɪ) or -prices (Classical Music) music a lively piece composed freely and without adhering to the rules for any specific musical form[C17: from Italian: caprice]

ca•pric•ci•o

(kəˈpri tʃiˌoʊ, -ˈpri tʃoʊ)

n., pl. -ci•os, -ci (-chē). 1. an instrumental composition in a free and usu. lively style. 2. a caper; prank. 3. a whim; caprice. [1595–1605; < Italian, perhaps a shortening of caporiccio head with bristling hair]

capriccio

A short, lively instrumental piece, often humorous.

Thesaurus

Noun

capriccio - an instrumental composition that doesn't adhere to rules for any specific musical form and is played with improvisationmusical composition, opus, piece of music, composition, piece - a musical work that has been created; "the composition is written in four movements"

Capriccio

a brilliant virtuoso instrumental piece with a free form, often implying whimsical alternation of episodes and moods.

Originally capricci were vocal pieces of the madrigal type, but at the turn of the 17th-century there appeared instrumental capricci that had a polyphonic texture and were close to the ricer-car, canzone, fantasia, and toccata. The 18th-century solo capricci were seemingly improvised cadences that gave the performer an opportunity to demonstrate the fertility of his imagination. Later the form moved closer to the etude in violin music (24 capricci by N. Paganini for violin solo, also known in piano adaptations by F. Liszt and R. Schumann); it also approached the “characteristic” piece for the clavier and the piano.

The 19th-century orchestral capricci usually had a strong na-tional flavor (Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio italien and Rimsky-Kor-sakov’s Capriccio espagnol).

capriccio

ca·pric·cio

capriccio

caprice

ca•pric•ci•o

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Capriccio

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Words related to capriccio

noun an instrumental composition that doesn't adhere to rules for any specific musical form and is played with improvisation

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