passage work

British  

noun

1. music scales, runs, etc, in a piece of music which have no structural significance but provide an opportunity for virtuoso display

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Example Sentences

Once pupils had absorbed each individual question, they had an average of 49 seconds per question to scan back through the relevant passage, work out their answer and write it down.

From BBC • May 18, 2023

Chang, on the other hand, is prone to go her own way and occasionally covered her colleagues, especially when the piano part called for brilliant passage work.

From Washington Post • Feb. 6, 2017

In the aria “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!” she dispatched the darting runs and passage work with agile technique.

From New York Times • Dec. 21, 2012

It is free of the flowery passage work of Busoni's famous piano transcriptions, but never dissonant in the modern sense.

From Time Magazine Archive

If, on the contrary, you want rapid passage work, with clear, bright, articulate touch, the hand must stand up in well-arched, normal playing position, with fingers well rounded and good finger action.

From Piano Mastery Talks with Master Pianists and Teachers by Brower, Harriette