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humoresque

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hu⋅mor⋅esque

[hyoo-muh-resk or, often, yoo-]
–noun
a musical composition of humorous or capricious character.

Origin:
1875–80; humor + -esque, modeled on G Humoreske


hu⋅mor⋅esque⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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hu·mor·esque   (hyōō'mə-rěsk')   
n.   Music
A whimsical or fanciful composition.

[German Humoreske, from Humor, humor, from English humor.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia

humoresque

a type of character piece, generally a short piano composition expressing a mood or a vague nonmusical idea, usually more good-humored than humorous. Robert Schumann, the first composer to use the term as a musical title, called his Opus 20 (1839) Humoreske (it is atypically like a long suite). His Opus 88, No. 2, is a humoresque for violin, cello, and piano. The best-known is Antonin Dvorak's Humoresque in G-flat, the seventh in his collection Eight Humoresques for piano (1894). Gustav Mahler originally called his Des Knaben Wunderhorn (1888-99; Songs From the Youth's Magic Horn) "Humoreske."

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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