A capriccio

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff over a short free passage or at the head of a whimsical section, and in force until a tempo or a new tempo word restores the pulse. In songs it may sit in the accompaniment near the opening, colouring the whole introduction.

How Composers Use It

A capriccio grants freedom in the spirit of a caprice: playful, unpredictable timing and quick changes of mood. It is close to a piacere but implies whimsy rather than mere latitude. Use it where the freedom should sound witty or improvised — an ornamental flourish, a teasing hesitation — and mark the return to strict time clearly.

Example

Liszt, Transcendental Étude No. 9 (“Ricordanza”), m. 8: “a capriccio”, with “dolce”, in a piece that opens “Andantino” and “dolce, con grazia”.

Related Terms