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

See Examples For:

a capriccio

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

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

From Lives of Poor Boys Who Became Famous by Bolton, Sarah K.

This is not the kind of prelude to pass from one key to another, but merely a capriccio to try over a piano.

From The Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Volume 01 by Nohl, Ludwig

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

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