Cantilena

What it means

Cantilena designates a singing, calmly flowing melodic line. What is meant is less a form than a way of writing and playing: connected, in broad arcs, without sharp articulation and without virtuoso trimmings. The term is used for vocal as well as instrumental music; when one speaks of the cantilena of an instrument, it means a line that is led like singing.

Musical use

The idea that instrumental music should sing has a lasting influence on European music. Slow movements of sonatas, concertos, and symphonies are often laid out cantabile and demand of winds and strings what singers do: form breath arcs, connect notes, lead phrases to a climax. In the opera of the nineteenth century the cantilena alternates with agile and declamatory sections and carries the lyrical moments. It differs from coloratura in its renunciation of agility, and from recitative in its closed melodic form.

Performance practice

Think in arcs instead of notes: determine the goal note of each phrase and lead everything toward it. Keep the sound even and avoid unintended accents at the beginnings of bars. For strings this is achieved through inaudible bow changes and a stable contact point, for winds through calm air flow and sparing tongue, for singers through even support. Plan breathing and bowing places musically and write them in. Use vibrato as a colour, not as a permanent state, and keep the tempo flexible but without falling apart.

Also check where the melody reaches its highest point, and orient the build-up toward it instead of weighting every turn equally. Watch the accompaniment: a cantilena works only if it is given room, and balance matters more than your own sound. Practise the line at different tempi, because the bow is distributed differently that way. On repeats, a change of colour is worthwhile instead of a change of volume. Avoid setting off at every phrase end; often the line carries over several bars.