Skip to content

cadenza

noun

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L317598 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /kəˈdɛnzə/ / [kʰəˈdɛnzə] / /kəˈdɪnzə/

noun

Etymology: Borrowed from Italian cadenza, from Latin cadentia. Doublet of cadence and chance.

  1. A part of a piece of music, such as a concerto, that is very decorative and is played by a single musician.

    Yes, laugh, as I want to laugh for instance in the concert hall when the orchestra trundles to a stop and the virtuoso at his piano, hunched like a demented vet before the bared teeth of this enormous black beast of sound, lifts up deliquescent hands and prepares to plunge into the cadenza.

verb

Etymology: Borrowed from Italian cadenza, from Latin cadentia. Doublet of cadence and chance.

  1. To become agitated or excited.