Definition of "cadenza" [ca•den•za]

• An elaborate, ornamental melodic flourish interpolated into an aria or other vocal piece. (noun)
• An extended virtuosic section for the soloist usually near the end of a movement of a concerto. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The novel implicitly asks that we take the reading of a novel to be a unique experience, not just another rote variation on an a pre-established theme, just as Laster's "cadenza" is unlike any previously heard."
• "Schnittke's cadenza for Beethoven's violin concerto ... which begins with the Joachim cadenza from the Brahms!!"
• "The word cadenza, Hoffman explains, comes from the word cadence - a closing sequence in a piece of music."