cadenza

[ kuh-den-zuh ]

/ kəˈdɛn zə /

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noun Music.

an elaborate flourish or showy solo passage, sometimes improvised, introduced near the end of an aria or a movement of a concerto.

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Origin of cadenza

1745–55; <Italian <Vulgar Latin *cadentia a falling, equivalent to Latin cad(ere) to fall + -entia-ency; cf. chance

Words nearby cadenza

cadenced, cadency, cadent, cadent house, cadential, cadenza, cadet, cadet cloth, cadette, cadge, cadger

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cadenza in a sentence

The last movement had the infectious gayety that Mozart's things often have, with a magnificent cadenza by himself.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
When she got to the cadenza, he laid down his bton, and retired to lean against the door and enjoy it.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
When the cadenza was reached in the public concert Beethoven quietly sat down.
The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, Volume II (of 3)|Alexander Wheelock Thayer
I had asked Beethoven to write a cadenza for me, but he refused and told me to write one myself and he would correct it.
The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, Volume II (of 3)|Alexander Wheelock Thayer

There is always a grand cadenza where you must play all alone and "make a splurge."
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay

British Dictionary definitions for cadenza

cadenza

/ (kəˈdɛnzə) /

noun

a virtuoso solo passage occurring near the end of a piece of music, formerly improvised by the soloist but now usually specially composed

Southern African informal a fit or convulsion

Word Origin for cadenza

C19: from Italian; see cadence

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012