reprise in music meaning | TheMusicDictionary

1. The French term for repeat or repetition.

2. A shortened version of a major composition in a stage production used to reward the audience with a repeat of a popular melody. This is often used as a finale to a scene or an act.

In addition, you can familiarize yourself with the terms:

[English] repeat
[French] repeticiôn
[German] wiederholung
[Italian] replica

Popular questions related to reprise

Reprise means "repeat an earlier role." If you're asked to reprise your role as "kid entertainer" at the annual family reunion, that means people want you to do it again this year.

1. a. : to repeat the performance of. b. : to repeat the principal points or stages of : recapitulate.

One example could be "Time", the fourth song from Pink Floyd's 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon, which contains a reprise of "Breathe", the second song of the same album.

In Music albums, a reprise is the repetition or reiteration of simply any repeated section, such as is indicated by beginning and ending repeat signs. These Songs Are Actually A Repeated Version but with different somehow Motive music and Vocals from Different Singers.

They ended their performance with a reprise of the opening number. The team is hoping to avoid a reprise of last year's defeat.

/rɪˈpriːz/ to repeat a song, performance, or set of actions: I was to play the doctor, reprising a role I'd done years earlier. Synonym. repeat.

“Classical” musicians use the word OSTINATO when talking about repeated musical patterns, but the words OSTINATO and RIFF mean much the same thing. RIFFS are often used by jazz musicians as a repeated phrase that a soloist improvises over.

Usage Note: In its musical sense meaning “a repetition of a phrase or verse” or “a return to an original theme,” reprise is usually pronounced (rĭ-prēz), with its last syllable rhyming with freeze. This reflects the influence of French when the musical use of the word was adopted in the 1700s.

In short, reprise is far less common and restricted to contexts that are describing the performing arts. Repeat is far more general, and has little (if any) restriction on the actions it can refer to.

To answer your question, the reprise in a musical sounds so good (and often times uplifting and oh so satisfying) because it's often so much bigger, climactic, and emotionally charged than the original version. It also often times will give us a sense of resolve or closure.

And a z sound at the end reprise. Reprise is how you say it both British and American English. And now you know.