Rezitativ

recitative, style of monody (accompanied solo song) that emphasizes and indeed imitates the rhythms and accents of spoken language, rather than melody or musical motives.

Recitativo stromentato or accompagnato (accompanied) has stricter rhythm and more involved, often orchestral, accompaniment. Used at dramatically important moments, it is more emotional in character. Its vocal line is more melodic, and often it leads into a formal aria.

It is usually reserved for parts of the opera where the words are important, to allow them to be heard more easily. Quasi recitativo indicates that the singer or instrumentation should treat the written music as if it were this kind of 'semi-spoken' manner.

Recitativo secco (“dry recitative”) is sung with a free rhythm dictated by the accents of the words. Accompaniment, usually by continuo (cello and harpsichord), is simple and chordal. The melody approximates speech by using only a few pitches.

: a rhythmically free vocal style that imitates the natural inflections of speech and that is used for dialogue and narrative in operas and oratorios. also : a passage to be delivered in this style.

Recitative is found in oratorios and operas from the Baroque period onwards. Typically, it involves a predominantly syllabic setting of a text to a homophonic accompaniment; it is used for dialogue, narration, plot exposition, and to introduce arias and sometimes choruses in the Baroque period.

Unlike secco recitative, accompagnato does not usually convey a large amount of necessary text or dialogue for the sake of advancing the story. Instead, the text often winds up the drama of a particular moment and most often serves as a vehicle to bridge secco recitative and a musical number.

ritornello, (Italian: “return”) also spelled ritornelle, or ritornel, plural ritornelli, ritornellos, ritornelles, or ritornels, a recurrent musical section that alternates with different episodes of contrasting material.

There are two types of recitative found in opera, secco recitative, and accompagnato. Secco recitative (dry recitation) is a speech-like setting often of substantial amounts of dialogue.

Etymology. Borrowed from Latin quasi (“almost, as it were”), from quam (interrogative adverb) + sī (conditional particle).

Recitative is a type of singing that is closer to speech than song. It is used in opera or oratoria to move the story along. An example of recitative from the film "Juan" based on the opera "Don Giovanni" composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1789. This type of singing contrasts with aria.

Recitative is found in oratorios and operas from the Baroque period onwards. Typically, it involves a predominantly syllabic setting of a text to a homophonic accompaniment; it is used for dialogue, narration, plot exposition, and to introduce arias and sometimes choruses in the Baroque period.