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How long should a typical cadenza be?


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There is no standard, of course, but one minute seems like it oughta be about the shortest, and three minutes maybe the longest. It might be worthwhile to look at the durations of some of the more well known cadenzas in the repertoire.

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7 hours ago, MisterWesley said:

There is no standard, of course, but one minute seems like it oughta be about the shortest, and three minutes maybe the longest. It might be worthwhile to look at the durations of some of the more well known cadenzas in the repertoire.

 

Your explanation seems to be the most logical. 

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Posted (edited)

I agree with @MisterWesley , and I would add that it's good to pay attention to the proportion of a cadenza to concerti of varying lengths. When I hear "2 mins and 15 seconds", I think that is a perfectly reasonable length on average but I do not know the length of the rest of your work/movement, and you may be able to get away with shorter or longer. I would suggest specifically comparing your work to well known works of about the same length, and maybe in the style and time period you're emulating (if you are). I hope that's helpful. 🙂

Edited by Gwendolyn Przyjazna
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  • 2 months later...

Depends on the framing piece of music of course.

 

  Generally, the cadenza allows a break in the musical texture and an opportunity for the soloist to "show off".  As such anything from 30 seconds to about 1.5 minutes would be in the normal range.

   Its hard to sustain interest with virtuosic passage work, and there is only so much material to extemporize with from the preceding movement....

 

      I f the orchestra arrives and you feel it was away OVERLONG --your cadenza needs to be chopped a bit.

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