Cantillation
Half-sung, half-spoken liturgical delivery of sacred texts, for instance in synagogue or church.
What it means
Cantillation denotes the half-sung, half-spoken delivery of sacred texts in the liturgy, for instance in the synagogue or in Christian churches. The text is not recited freely but follows fixed melodic formulas that correspond to its meaning and structure.
Musical use
In the Jewish tradition, the cantillation of the Torah is closely linked to the so-called ta'amim, accent signs in the Hebrew text that fix both grammatical stress and the associated melodic turn. Similar principles are found in Gregorian chant, where liturgical texts such as readings or prayers are delivered in a similarly half-sung, half-spoken manner. Cantillation serves to make sacred texts audible in a particularly solemn yet textually intelligible way.
Cantillation should be distinguished from actual singing with a freely composed melody, since it is more closely bound to fixed, traditional formulas, and from mere speech, since it clearly contains melodic elements. It thus stands between both forms of expression.
Performance practice
In cantillation, attend to the natural speech rhythm of the text, to which the melodic formulas are subordinated. Practise the formulas separately from the text first, before joining them to the corresponding text passages, to bring stress and melody together securely.