Recitative
Ordinary speech-like singing in opera, cantata, mass or oratorio
Recitative
Recitative (, also known by its Italian name recitativo ([retʃitaˈtiːvo]), is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat lines as formally composed songs or arias do. It resembles sung ordinary speech more than the vocal style typically encountered in fully developed compositions, consistent with the meaning of the English cognate for the Italian term "recitativo" ("a recitation"). Recitative can be distinguished on a continuum from more speech-like to more musically sung, with more sustained melodic lines. The mostly syllabic recitativo semplice ("simple recitative") of the 17th to early 19th centuries, now more commonly referred to among professional musicians as recitativo secco ("dry", accompanied only by continuo, typically cello and harpsichord), is at one end of the spectrum, through recitativo accompagnato (which uses an orchestra to accompany the...
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