Recitative is a style of singing in an opera or oratorio that reflects natural speech or dialogue (see Opera ; Oratorio ). The sections of a libretto (text) that are sung in recitative convey the action of the story to the audience and move the plot forward. Passages sung in recitative are themselves referred to as recitatives.
The arias and choruses in operas or oratorios are usually sung to a definite rhythm. In contrast, a recitative pays less attention to musical rhythm in an attempt to imitate natural human speech. Sometimes singers perform recitatives quickly, just like rapid dialogue. At other times, they may sing the recitatives slowly, in order to represent halting speech or dignified or declaimed utterance.
The earliest operas, cantatas, or oratorios included simple recitatives accompanied by a keyboard instrument such as a harpsichord or organ and a bass instrument, usually a cello (see Cantata ). In works written since the 1800’s, recitatives have usually been sung to an orchestral accompaniment. Because of the growing popularity of arias in the 1800’s and 1900’s, recitatives lost some of their earlier importance, especially in operas. Recitatives are very much a part of vocal music. However, in the last movement of his Ninth Symphony, just before the entrance of the singers, the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven has a section in which the cellos and double-basses of the orchestra play a series of recitative passages (see Beethoven, Ludwig van ).
