Definitions for "DA CAPO"
Keywords:  capo, album, italian, beginning, repeat
An aria in an 18th Century opera seria, with the structure A-B-A decorated. The singer being given instruction to go back to the beginning, Handel was well known for the de capo.
(Ital. for "from the top [head].") On reaching this instruction (or its abbreviation, D.C.) in the score, the performers go back to the beginning of the movement and play until the word " fine " ("end"). The instruction is most commonly encountered in the minuet-and-trio, where it occurs at the end of the trio to prompt the return of the minuet. By convention one omits the repeats the second time and concludes at the end of the minuet's second strain, fine or not. (See also dal segno .)
(Italian), "from the head." Return to the beginning. Abbr.: D.C. Da capo al fine: return to the beginning and play to fine. Da capo al : return to the beginning and skip ahead to the next occurrence of the sign (the coda).