Cantata

A cantata (literally 'sung', derived from the Italian word 'cantare') is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment and often containing more than one movement. The term did not exist prior to the 16th century, when all "cultured" music was vocal. It originated in the early 17th century simultaneously with opera and oratorio. With the rise of instrumental music during this period the term emerged as the instrumental art became suffici... more

A cantata (literally 'sung', derived from the Italian word 'cantare') is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment and often containing more than one movement. The term did not exist prior to the 16th century, when all "cultured" music was vocal. It originated in the early 17th century simultaneously with opera and oratorio. With the rise of instrumental music during this period the term emerged as the instrumental art became sufficiently developed to be embodied in sonatas. From the middle of the 17th until late in the 18th century a favorite form of Italian chamber music was the cantata for one or two solo voices, with accompaniment of harpsichord and perhaps a few other solo instruments. It consisted at first of a declamatory narrative or scene in recitative, held together by a primitive aria repeated at intervals. Fine examples may be found in the church music of Giacomo Carissimi; and the English vocal solos of Henry Purcell (such as Mad Tom and Mad Bess) show the... less