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 singer), the more melismatic arioso, and finally the full-blown aria or ensemble, in which the character of the vocal lines is entirely governed by the musical imagination of a composer. Secco recitatives can be more improvisatory in style for the singer (with a freer approach to rhythmic execution), since the accompaniment is so sparse; in contrast, when recitative is accompanied by orchestra, the singer must perform in a more structured way in order to coordinate precisely with the instrumentalists. The term recitative (or occasionally liturgical recitative) is also applied to the simpler formulas of Gregorian chant, such as the tones used for the epistle, gospel, preface and collects; see accentus.