A rhapsody in music is a single piece that has different sections that work together. It does not follow a strict structure and includes many different emotions, sounds, and musical keys. It feels like it was created quickly and with a sense of freedom, making it less structured than a set of variations.

The word "rhapsody" comes from the Greek word rhapsōidos, meaning someone who recites epic poetry. By the 1500s, the word was used in Europe to describe literary works, such as poems and collections of writings. Later, it was also used to describe emotional or expressive writing. In the 1700s, the term began to be used in music, such as in Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart’s Musicalische Rhapsodien (1786), which included songs with keyboard accompaniment and solo keyboard pieces. The first solo piano rhapsodies were written by Václav Jan Tomášek in 1810. Although vocal rhapsodies, like Johannes Brahms’s Alto Rhapsody (1869), existed later, by the 1800s, rhapsodies were mostly instrumental, starting with the piano and later becoming large-scale orchestral works. Franz Liszt helped popularize this style. In the mid-1800s, interest in Romani violin music led to compositions by Liszt, Antonín Dvořák, George Enescu, Ernst von Dohnányi, and Béla Bartók. In the early 1900s, British composers like Ralph Vaughan Williams, George Butterworth, and Frederick Delius created rhapsodies influenced by folk songs.

In modern times, some composers have included unusual instruments in rhapsodies. After World War II, John Serry Sr. used a chromatic piano accordion in his American Rhapsody (1955). In 1992, Ney Gabriel Rosauro included the Brazilian berimbau and repinique in his Rhapsody for Solo Percussion and Orchestra, with an optional section allowing performers to use other traditional or exotic instruments.

In 1975, the British rock band Queen released "Bohemian Rhapsody," a loud, operatic-style rock song divided into four sections. Though called a "mock opera" by its composer, Freddie Mercury, it is also described as a "seven-minute rock cantata" with three parts. It became one of the UK’s best-selling singles.

Some familiar examples may help explain the character of a rhapsody: