capriccio

American  

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

noun

plural

capriccios, capricci

1. Music. a composition in a free, irregular style.

2. a caper; prank.

3. a whim; caprice.

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capriccio British  

/ kəˈprɪtʃɪˌəʊ /

noun

1. music a lively piece composed freely and without adhering to the rules for any specific musical form

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Etymology

Origin of capriccio

First recorded in 1595–1605; Italian “sudden startle,” possibly from capra “nanny goat” or capro “billy goat” (as of the skipping of a kid or goat), from Vulgar Latin capriceus “goat” (unattested); possibly from capo capo ² ( def. ) and riccio (adjective) “curly,” (noun) “hedgehog” ( see arriccio ( def. ))

Example Sentences

Finally, Conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos appeared and gave the downbeat, and the perplexed audience settled down to the first U.S. performance of Ferruccio Busoni's "theatrical capriccio," Harlequin.

From Time Magazine Archive

Which is higher as a work of art, that tender song without words by Mendelssohn, called “Regret,” or that indescribably affecting capriccio of his marked as “Opus 33”?

From Lectures on Russian Literature Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenef, Tolstoy by Panin, Ivan

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.

She did not go so far as to wish herself a sharer in the sentiment, but she thought it heroism on her part to repress the capriccio, as the Italians say.

From Beatrix by Wormeley, Katharine Prescott

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