Capriccio


From Encyclopedia Britannica (11th edition, 1910)

EncycloReader

Capriccio, or Caprice (Ital. for a sudden motion or fancy), a musical term for a lively composition of an original and fantastic nature, not following a set musical form, although the first known, written for the harpsichord, partook of the nature of a fugue. The word is also used for pieces of a fanciful type, in the nature of transcriptions and variations.