Cadenza

In music, a cadenza (from cadenza kaˈdɛntsa, meaning cadence; plural, cadenze kaˈdɛntse) is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing virtuosic display. During this time the accompaniment will rest, or sustain a note or chord. Thus an improvised cadenza is indicated in written notation by a fermata in all parts. A cadenza will usually occur over either the final or penultimate note in a piece, the lead-in (Eingang), or the final or penultimate note in an important subsection of a piece. It can also be found before a final coda or ritornello. The term cadenza often refers to a portion of a concerto in which the orchestra stops playing, leaving the soloist to play alone in free time (without a strict, regular pulse) and can be written or improvised, depending on what the composer specifies. Sometimes, a cadenza will include small parts for other instruments besides the soloist; an example is in Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3, where a solo flute, clarinet and horn are used over rippling arpeggios in the piano. A cadenza normally occurs near the end of the first movement, though it can be at any point in a concerto. An example is Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, where in the first five minutes a cadenza is used. The cadenza is usually the most elaborate and virtuosic part that the solo instrument plays during the whole piece. At the end of the cadenza, the orchestra re-enters, and generally finishes off the movement on their own, or, less often, with the solo instrument. Typically during the classical period, a solo cadenza in a concerto would end with a trill, usually on the supertonic, preceding the re-entry of the orchestra for the movement's coda. Extended cadential trills were frequent in Mozart's piano concerti; they may also be found in violin concerti and concerti for stringed instruments of the period up to the early 19th century. (see illustration at head of this article).