Cadenza

Cadenza, virtuosic solo passage, either improvised or precomposed in the spontaneous, free-sounding style of an improvisation, inserted near the end of a musical composition or section. Cadenzas provide a soloist with opportunities not only to demonstrate technical brilliancy but also to show musical ability at elaborating on the basic materials of a composition. Cadenzas first flourished in 17th- and 18th-century opera, when singers improvised florid decorations immediately before the final cadence of an aria. Cadenzas are most familiar to modern listeners in instrumental concertos, where they occur near the end of some or all movements. Since about 1800, composers have generally written out cadenzas, which are rarely improvised today.