Definition of "ritornello" [ritornello]

• An instrumental interlude recurring after each stanza in a vocal work. (noun)
• A passage or section for full orchestra in a concerto or aria. (noun)
• An instrumental interlude in early 17th-century opera. (noun)
• The refrain of a rondo. (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.

• "They memorably incorporate, as a kind of ritornello, a string arrangement of the exquisite opening bars of the Prelude in C-sharp minor from Book Two of"
• ""ritornello," and I had fondly imagined its impassioned lines were all for me!"
• "The musical content is that of a children's song; the strophic structure actually diminishes any sense of conflict; the insouciant ritornello — — resets each verse like rounds of a game."