cantata

noun

can·ta·ta kən-ˈtä-tə

: a composition for one or more voices usually comprising solos, duets, recitatives, and choruses and sung to an instrumental accompaniment

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A cantata is a work for voice or voices and instruments of the baroque era. From its beginnings in 17th-century Italy, both secular and religious cantatas were written. The earliest cantatas were generally for solo voice with minimal instrumental accompaniment. Cantatas soon developed a dramatic character and alternating sections of recitative (solo singing that imitates the rhythms and tones of speech) and aria, paralleling the simultaneous development of opera. In Germany, the Lutheran cantata almost always involved a chorus. The approximately 200 cantatas written by Johann Sebastian Bach are the most celebrated. After ca. 1750 the cantata gradually declined.

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Bach's 'Christmas Oratorio' Music director Ken-David Masur leads the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in the first three of this oratorio's six cantatas, which commemorate the birth of Jesus, the annunciation to shepherds and the adoration of the shepherds. —

Jim Higgins, Journal Sentinel, 12 Nov. 2024 De Priest will also star in a Vivaldi cantata, with the group also performing works by Telemann and Bach. Vivaldi, Bach and Telemann also figure prominently on the last program of the season Aug. 16 at Visitation Catholic Church. —

Patrick Neas, Kansas City Star, 21 June 2024 According to Francisco, the composers represented no less than 30 print collections of solo songs, cantatas, motets, polyphonic works, settings for psalms and masses, a magnificat, a vespers service, a dozen sonatas, and scores for nine operas and other staged works. —

Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2024 Bach's full Christmas Oratorio is a collection of six cantatas, each for a specific feast day during the holiday period. —

Jim Higgins, Journal Sentinel, 22 Mar. 2024 See all Example Sentences for cantata