Recitativo

What it means

Recitativo is the Italian designation for the recitative, the speech-like singing in opera, oratorio, and cantata. It follows the speech rhythm, uses few notes, many note repetitions, and knows hardly any melodic elaboration; its timing is free and follows the text. Two main kinds are distinguished: the secco recitative, supported only by continuo, and the accompagnato or stromentato, which is accompanied by the orchestra and thereby gains dramatic weight.

In the notation

Recitatives are recognizable by their plain notation: many repeated notes, few accidentals, sparing accompaniment, in the secco only a bass note with figuring. The notated note values are approximations and are executed according to the flow of speech; closing cadences are traditionally delayed, and the accompanying chords are set after the singing ends.

Musical use

The recitative carries the plot: it reports, conducts dialogues, and prepares arias, in which time stands still and a feeling is unfolded. This alternation of progress and lingering fundamentally shapes the opera of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In the nineteenth century the strict separation blurs, and recitative-like sections pass into through-composed scenes. In church music the recitative often serves to render biblical narrative, for instance in Passions.

Performance practice

Speak the text aloud first and transfer stress and tempo to the notes; notated values are guidelines, not prescriptions. Keep the tone supported nonetheless, so that the voice carries. In the continuo, follow the singer instead of leading, and keep the chords short, if the style demands it. Clarify the execution of closing cadences explicitly, because the conventions differ by period. Plan transitions to the following number, so that the tension does not break off.

Bear in mind that in the [eighteenth] century, the accompanying chords are often set only after the singing ends; in later music this does not hold. Clarify the practice explicitly, because an unagreed ending sounds uncertain. Keep the tone supported nonetheless.

Check whether an edition has realized the continuo, and decide whether you follow this realization or grip it yourself.