Editing Recitative (section)

==Origins==
The first use of recitative in [[opera]] was preceded by the [[monody|monodies]] of the [[Florentine Camerata]] in which [[Vincenzo Galilei]], father of the astronomer [[Galileo Galilei]], played an important role. The elder Galilei, influenced by his correspondence with [[Girolamo Mei]] on the writings of the ancient Greeks and with [[Erycius Puteanus]] on the writings of [[Hucbald]]<ref>Hope 1894, p. ??</ref> and wishing to recreate the old manner of storytelling and drama, pioneered the use of a single melodic line to tell the story, accompanied by simple chords from a harpsichord or lute.

In the [[Baroque music|Baroque]] era, recitatives were commonly rehearsed on their own by the stage director, the singers frequently supplying their own favourite [[insertion aria|baggage aria]]s which might be by a different composer (some of [[Mozart]]'s so-called concert arias fall into this category). This division of labour persisted into the 19th century: <!-- some famous works are [[Mozart]]'s ''[[La clemenza di Tito]]'' (1791, recitatives believed to be by [[Franz Xavier Süssmayr]], but check Freeman, Daniel (2013). Mozart in Prague), --> [[Rossini]]'s ''[[La Cenerentola]]'' (1817, recitatives by Luca Agolini<ref>Gossett 2006, p. 249</ref>) is a famous example. Later it remained a custom to replace originally spoken dialogue with new recitatives: [[Carl Maria von Weber]]'s ''[[Der Freischütz]]'' (1821, adapted 1841 with recitatives by [[Hector Berlioz]] for the Paris Opera), [[Georges Bizet]]'s ''[[Carmen]]'' (1875, recitatives by Ernest Guiraud for the posthumous run in Vienna the same year), [[Charles Gounod]]'s ''[[Mireille (opera)|Mireille]]'' and ''[[La colombe]]'' (staged by [[Sergei Diaghilev]] with recitatives respectively by [[Eric Satie]] and [[Francis Poulenc]]<ref>J. S. Lessner: '"Gounod: Ear for Melody" in ''Opera News'', May 2021</ref>).