Home > Baker's Student Encyclopedia of Music > Cadenza

(It., cadence; from Lat., cadere, fall; Ger. Kadenz). 1. In an aria or other accompanied vocal piece, a brilliant improvisatory passage for the soloist in free time, usually performed near the end of the piece. During the "golden age" of opera (18th and early 19th centuries) COLORATURA singers were expected to perform a formidable line of TRILLS and ARPEGGIOS. But composers began to rebel against this sometimes indulgent artistic license, and composers such as HECTOR BERLIOZ, RICHARD WAGNER, and GIUSEPPE VERDI did everything they could to prohibit such improvisation. By the 20th century the vocal cadenza was extinct per se, used only at the specific direction of the composer. 2. An elaborate passage or FANTASIA at the end of the first or last movement of a CONCERTO, played by the solo instrument. In its original conception, cadenza signified an improvisatory interpolation in an instrumental or vocal work, mainly intended to demonstrate the technical brilliance of the virtuoso performer. Solo cadenzas in CLASSICAL concertos were rarely written out by the composer, but were contributed by performers.

Most 20th-century composers have abandoned the cadenza as a virtuoso exercise. As a working rule, a competently written cadenza should incorporate the main themes of the original. In ROMANTIC concertos, the device of continued sequences and MODULATIONS into RELATIVE KEYS are common.