a capriccio

American  

[ah kuh-pree-chee-oh, ah kah-preet-chaw] / ˌɑ kəˈpri tʃiˌoʊ, ˌɑ kɑˈprit tʃɔ /

adverb

Music.

1. at whatever tempo or with whatever expression the performer wishes.

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Etymology

Origin of a capriccio

< Italian: according to caprice

Example Sentences

I had in mind the definition of a capriccio given by Praetorius, the celebrated musical authority of the eighteenth century.

From An Autobiography by Stravinsky, Igor

This poem ought not to be considered more than as a capriccio, or sport of the fancy, on which he has expended much labour to little purpose.

From Lives of the English Poets From Johnson to Kirke White, Designed as a Continuation of Johnson's Lives by Cary, Henry Francis

He trembled lest he should have been the plaything of a whim, for he had heard what a capriccio might mean in an Italian.

From Albert Savarus by Marriage, Ellen

But presently I did begin a capriccio, which I like very much, and it did go ever louder and louder; and I forgot that it was midnight and that everybody was asleep.

From Eclectic School Readings: Stories from Life by Marden, Orison Swett

An adagio may set a gouty father to sleep, and a capriccio may operate successfully on the nerves of a valetudinary mother.

From Primitive Psycho-Therapy and Quackery by Lawrence, Robert Means