In music, ''cantabile'' , an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

word, means literally "singable" or "songlike". In instrumental music, it is a particular style of playing designed to imitate the human voice. For 18th-century composers, ''cantabile'' is often synonymous with "cantando" (singing) and indicates a measured

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

and flexible,

legato In music performance and notation, legato (; Italian for "tied together"; French ''lié''; German ''gebunden'') indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, the player makes a transition from note to note wit ...

playing. For later composers, particularly in

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

music, ''cantabile'' is the drawing out of one particular musical line against the accompaniment (compare counterpoint). Felix Mendelssohn's six books of '' Songs Without Words'' are short lyrical piano pieces with song-like melodies written between 1829 and 1845. A modern example is an instrumental by

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

& His Orchestra, called "Trumpet Blues and Cantabile". A cantabile movement, or simply a "cantabile", is the first half of a double

aria In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...

, followed by a

cabaletta Cabaletta is a two-part musical form particularly favored for arias in 19th century Italian opera in the belcanto era until about the 1860s during which it was one of the era's most important elements. More properly, a cabaletta is a more animate ...

. The cantabile movement would be slower and more free-form to contrast with the structured and generally faster cabaletta.

Louis Spohr Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, t ...

subtitled his violin concerto No. 8 ''"in moda d'una scena cantata,"'' "in the manner of a sung peraticscene"; opera arias exerted a strong influence on the "singable" ''cantabile'' melodic line in Romantic writing for stringed instruments.

References

*Kennedy, Michael, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music'', Oxford University Press, 1985, p. 123. *Milsom, David
''Theory and Practice in Late Nineteenth-century Violin Performance''
Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2003, p. 113. *Warrack, John and West, Ewan, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', Oxford University Press, 1992, p. 115. {{opera terms Italian opera terminology Classical music styles Articles containing video clips da:Cantabile