a cappella
adverb or adjective
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A Cappella Has Italian Roots
A cappella arrived in English in the 18th century via the Italian phrase a cappella, meaning "in chapel or choir style." (Medieval Latin capella, meaning "chapel," is the source of English chapel.) The a cappella style reached preeminence in the late 16th century in the music that composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina wrote for the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican. Because no independent instrumental parts were written down, scholars once thought that the choir sang unaccompanied, but current evidence makes clear that an organ or other instruments doubled some or several of the vocal parts. Regardless, today a cappella describes a purely vocal performance.
Examples of a cappella in a Sentence
Hugh McIntyre, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
Several versions are included: a live rehearsal, an a cappella rendition, and a remix by Carvin Winans, plus two bonus tracks recorded live at Kings Park Stadium in Durban, South Africa, in 1994.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 2 Oct. 2024
But then again, without the a cappella version of The Black Album, MTV might not have come up with the mash-up show idea in the first place.
—Jason Lipshutz, Billboard, 20 Nov. 2024
The songs, some of which made it onto an album released during the pandemic, contain real highs, like an a cappella number that introduces the second act, though there are also darlings that express a feeling well but don’t service the drama in situ.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 28 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“A cappella.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/a%20cappella. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.
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a cappella
adverb or adjectivefrom Italian a cappella "in chapel style"
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