CODA (Ital. for " tail "; from the

See also:

• LAT

Lat. cauda)  , in music, a term for a passage which brings a movement or a separate piece to a conclusion . This developed from the simple chords of a cadence into an elaborate and independent form . In a series of variations on a theme or in a composition with a fixed order of subjects, the " coda " is a passage sufficiently contrasted with the conclusions of the separate variations or subjects, added to form a complete conclusion to the whole . Beethoven raised the " coda " to a feature of the highest importance .