Editing Recitative (section)

{{Short description|Ordinary speech-like singing in opera, cantata, mass or oratorio}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2008}}
[[File:Handel, Lascia ch’io pianga autograph score, 1711.jpg|thumb|right|300px|This score for [[Handel]]'s ''[[Lascia ch'io pianga]]'' shows the simple accompaniment for a recitative; much of the time, the basso continuo (the lower staff in bass clef) play half notes and whole notes underneath the vocalist's recitative part.]]
[[File:Bach - cantata 140. 2. recitative.ogg|thumb|right|200px|A recitative from [[J.S. Bach]]'s [[BWV 140|Cantata 140, "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"]]]]
'''Recitative''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|r|ɛ|s|ɪ|t|ə|ˈ|t|iː|v}}, also known by its Italian name '''recitativo''' ({{IPA|it|retʃitaˈtiːvo|}}) is a style of delivery (much used in [[opera]]s, [[oratorio]]s, and [[cantata]]s) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat lines as formally composed songs do. It resembles sung ordinary speech more than a formal musical composition.

Recitative can be distinguished on a continuum from more speech-like to more musically sung, with more sustained melodic lines. The mostly syllabic '''''recitativo secco'''''{{efn-ua|plural: ''recitativi secchi''}}  ("dry", accompanied only by [[Basso continuo|continuo]], typically cello and harpsichord) is at one end of the spectrum, through '''''recitativo accompagnato''''' (using orchestra), the more [[melisma]]tic [[arioso]], and finally the full-blown [[aria]] or ensemble, where the pulse is entirely governed by the music. Secco recitatives can be more improvisatory and free for the singer, since the accompaniment is so sparse; in contrast, when recitative is accompanied by orchestra, the singer must perform in a more structured way.

The term ''recitative'' (or occasionally liturgical recitative) is also applied to the simpler formulas of [[Gregorian chant]], such as the tones used for the [[epistle]], [[gospel]], [[preface (liturgy)|preface]] and [[collect]]s; see [[accentus]].