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passagework

[pas-ij-wurk]
noun Music.
  1. writing that is often extraneous to the thematic material of a work and is typically of a virtuosic or decorative character: passagework consisting of scales, arpeggios, trills, and double octaves.
  2. the performance of such writing: The pianist's passagework is brilliantly clear and smooth.

Origin of passagework

First recorded in 1860–65; passage1 + work
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for passage work

passage work

noun
  1. music scales, runs, etc, in a piece of music which have no structural significance but provide an opportunity for virtuoso display
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012