What is "capriccio"

Capriccio \Ca*pric"cio\ (k[.a]*pr[=e]t"ch[-o]), n. [It. See Caprice.]

1. (Mus.) A piece in a free form, with frequent digressions from the theme; a fantasia; -- often called caprice.

2. A caprice; a freak; a fancy.
   --Shak. [1913 Webster] ||

1690s as a term in music for a kind of free composition, from Italian capriccio "sudden start or motion" (see caprice). Earlier it meant "prank, trick" (1660s); "caprice" (c.1600).

n. 1 A sudden and unexpected or fantastic motion; a caper (from same etymology, see below); a gambol; a prank, a trick. 2 A fantastical thing or work; a caprice. 3 A type of landscape painting that places particular works of architecture in an unusual setting. 4 A piece of music, usually fairly free in form and of a lively character.

1. n. an instrumental composition that doesn't adhere to rules for any specific musical form and is played with improvisation

2. [also: capricci (pl)]

Capriccio may refer to:

• A capriccio, a tempo marking
• Capriccio (music), a piece of music which is fairly free in form
• Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother by J.S. Bach
• Capriccio (Janáček), a chamber music composition
• Capriccio for Violin and Orchestra, a 1967 composition by Krzysztof Penderecki
• Capriccio for Harp and String Orchestra, a 1963 composition by Walter Piston
• Capriccio Espagnol by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
• Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, a 1926–29 composition by Igor Stravinsky
• Capriccio Italien by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
• Capriccio burlesco, an orchestral work by Sir William Walton, written between May and September 1968
• Capriccio (opera), a 1942 German-language opera by Richard Strauss
• Capriccio (1938 film), a 1938 film
• Capriccio (1972 film), a 1972 film by Carmelo Bene
• Capriccio (1987 film), a 1987 film by Tinto Brass
• Capriccio (painting), a painted architectural fantasy
• Capriccio (record label), an Austrian, classical music record label
• Capriccio, a collection of poems by Ted Hughes published in 1990

A capriccio or caprice (sometimes plural: caprices, capri or, in Italian, capricci), is a piece of music, usually fairly free in form and of a lively character. The typical capriccio is one that is fast, intense, and often virtuosic in nature.

The term has been applied in disparate ways, covering works using many different procedures and forms, as well as a wide variety of vocal and instrumental forces. The earliest occurrence of the term was in 1561 by Jacquet de Berchem and applied to a set of madrigals. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, it could refer to madrigals, music intended alternatively for voices or instruments, or for strictly instrumental pieces, especially keyboard compositions .

Capriccio, Op. 85, is the final opera by German composer Richard Strauss, subtitled "A Conversation Piece for Music". The opera received its premiere performance at the Nationaltheater München on 28 October 1942. Clemens Krauss and Strauss wrote the German libretto. However, the genesis of the libretto came from Stefan Zweig in the 1930s, and Joseph Gregor further developed the idea several years later. Strauss then took on the libretto, but finally recruited Krauss as his collaborator on the opera. Most of the final libretto is by Krauss.

The opera originally consisted of a single act lasting close to two and a half hours. This, in combination with the work's conversational tone and emphasis on text, has prevented the opera from achieving great popularity. However, at Hamburg in 1957, Rudolf Hartmann, who had directed the opera at its premiere in Munich, inserted an interval at the point when the Countess orders chocolate, and other directors have often followed suit, including performances at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The final scene for Countess Madeleine can often be heard as an excerpt. Capriccio received its American professional premiere at The Santa Fe Opera in 1958 after the Juilliard School staged it in 1954 with Gloria Davy and Thomas Stewart as the aristocratic siblings.

In painting, a capriccio (, plural: capricci ; in older English works often anglicized as "caprice") means an architectural fantasy, placing together buildings, archaeological ruins and other architectural elements in fictional and often fantastical combinations, and may include staffage (figures). It falls under the more general term of landscape painting. The term is also used for other artworks with an element of fantasy.

The Capriccio for Piano Left-Hand and Chamber Ensemble (sometimes titled Defiance, in Czech: Vzdor) is a composition by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček. The work was written in the autumn of 1926 and is remarkable not just in the context of Janáček's output, but it also occupies an exceptional position in the literature written for piano played only by the left hand. The piece is scored for piano, flute, two trumpets, three trombones and tenor tuba.

Capriccio, also released with the international titles Love & Passion and Capri Remembered, is an Italian erotic drama film directed by Tinto Brass. It is a liberal adaptation of the novel Le lettere da Capri by Mario Soldati.

Capriccio is a 1938 German historical comedy film directed by Karl Ritter and starring Lilian Harvey, Viktor Staal and Paul Kemp. The film is set in 18th century France, where a young woman enjoys a series of romantic adventures. The director, Ritter, was attempting to recreate the style of a Rene Clair comedy. The film's content was criticised by both Joseph Goebbels and Adolf Hitler. Harvey made only one further film in Germany before leaving for France.

Capriccio is a formerly German, now Austrian, classical music record label.

The original Capriccio label was founded in the 1980s and was until 2010 part of Delta-Music GmbH a German record company located in Großkönigsdorf, Frechen near Cologne, which was founded in 1970 by Philippe Sautot and Jürgen Moll.

Following the bankruptcy of the Delta Music GMBH, the artistic director of Capriccio, Johannes Kernmayer, decided to carry on with several ongoing, but unfunded, recording projects from the profitable classical section of Delta as "Phoenix Edition." The releases on Phoenix Edition were commercially successful and enabled Kernmayer to rescue the classical back-catalogue of Capriccio and reestablish the Capriccio label as a new independent company in Vienna.