Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Finale
Fi*na"le\ (f[-e]*n[aum]"l[asl]), n. [It. See Final.] Close; termination; as: (a) (Mus.) The last movement of a symphony, sonata, concerto, or any instrumental composition. (b) The last composition performed in any act of an opera. (c) The closing part, piece, or scene in any public performance or exhibition.Cite This Source
finale
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finale
in music, the last and, as a rule, lively movement of a multimovement instrumental work, or the culminating section of an operatic act or scene, usually involving a vocal ensemble rather than a single singer. During the musical era dominated by Viennese Classicism (c. 1770-1820), solo concerti tended to end with movements in rondo form, while the finales of symphonic and chamber works, eventually solo sonatas as well, increasingly complied with the sonata-allegro principle. Beginning with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's last two symphonies (Nos. 40 and 41, 1788) and reaching its highest expression in numerous works of Ludwig van Beethoven, the finale attained a structural significance that had previously been reserved for the opening movement, to the extent that, instead of providing merely an agreeable conclusion, it contained the ultimate thematic resolution of a large-scale instrumental drama
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