Cadenza is an ongoing series exploring self-portraiture and performance. In the silence of our personal walls, there is space for an improvised passage or cadenza. Often long and difficult, the cadenza is a solo act usually near the end of the first or final movement. Unrestrained and expressive the soloist can indulge in displays of virtuosity that at times have little to do with the music preceding it. Finding escape in the freedom of the cadenza, the self, as a solitary performer, leans on innovation and imagination. The term 'cadenza' appeared shortly before 1500 as a synonym for the Latin' clausula', meaning conclusion. The Latin word 'cadentia' later came into use. Both terms come from cadere ('to fall') and refer to a descending melodic line before a section's final note.