Fioritura

What it means

Fioritura, Italian for “flowering,” denotes adorning a melody with runs, turns, and ornaments. The basic line remains recognisable but is overlaid as if with blossoms: single notes are dissolved into quick figures, circled by neighbour notes, or extended into small cadenzas.

Musical use

Fioriture were an essential artistic means especially in Baroque Italian opera and in bel canto. Singers embellished repeats of arias according to their own taste, so that the performers' personality showed in the ornamentation. Later, composers such as Rossini increasingly wrote the fioriture out themselves in order to control the embellishment. Fioriture are also common in instrumental music, for instance in slow movements of the 18th century.

The fioritura should be distinguished from coloratura, which as a term usually means the virtuoso, figure-rich vocal line itself, and from diminution, the systematic dissolving of long notes into smaller values. The fioritura denotes the embellished style in general.

Performance practice

Ornament with care: practise the basic melody first without embellishment so its line is secure, and then add single figures. Keep the fioritura light and agile, and make sure it does not overlay the coherence of the phrase and leads toward the target note.