A musical composition or passage that can be played backwards and produces a musically coherent result, like a crab moving sideways.
From Latin 'cancer' (crab), referring to the crab's sideways movement. In music theory, this technique is also called 'retrograde' and was favored by Renaissance and Baroque composers who enjoyed intellectual musical puzzles.
Bach and other classical composers loved writing cancrizans pieces where if you flip the sheet music upside-down and play it backwards, it sounds just as good—it's like a musical magic trick that proves geometry and harmony are secretly connected.
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