Da capo, , is a
musical term in
Italian, meaning
from the beginning (literally
from the head). It is often abbreviated
D.C. It is a
composer or publisher's directive to
repeat the previous part of music, often used to save space. In small pieces this might be the same thing as a
repeat, but in larger works D.C. might occur after one or more repeats of small
sections, indicating a return to the very beginning. The resulting
structure of the piece is generally in
ternary form. Sometimes the composer describes the part to be repeated, for example:
Menuet da capo. In
opera, where an
aria of this structure is called a
da capo aria, the repeated section is often adorned with
grace notes.