cantabile

American  

[kahn-tah-bi-ley, -bee-, kuhn-, kahn-tah-bee-le] / kɑnˈtɑ bɪˌleɪ, -bi-, kən-, kɑnˈtɑ biˌlɛ /

adjective

1. songlike and flowing in style.

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adverb

1. in a cantabile manner.

cantabile British  

/ kænˈtɑːbɪlɪ /

adjective

1. (to be performed) in a singing style, i.e. flowingly and melodiously

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noun

1. a piece or passage performed in this way

Etymology

Origin of cantabile

1720–30; < Italian < Late Latin cantābilis worth singing, equivalent to Latin cantā ( re ) to sing ( see cant ¹) + -bilis -ble

Explanation

If someone plays a piece of music cantabile — perhaps on the piano, violin, or flute — it sounds clear and smoothly flowing, like a voice singing. A cantabile passage is usually in a medium tempo and full of feeling. Cantabile means "singable" in Italian. When you see this instruction in a piece of music, it usually means the melody and style are changing, from fairly fast and complicated to something simpler and with a clear melody — something that sounds easy to sing. The tempo is more manageable by the average singer, and the notes are not too far apart in pitch. Even if not sung, a cantabile passage is played on instruments in a smooth, flowing way that suggests a singing voice.

Example Sentences

Despite the breadth of the history covered here, Peloquin’s touch is admirably sensitive to the cantabile quality that Del Tredici is apt to bring to any harmonic idiom.

From New York Times • Jun. 29, 2023

That opulence was readily apparent in the ceaseless flow of cantabile melodies in Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony.

From New York Times • Apr. 26, 2023

Telemundo, using the marketing power of many NBCUniversal networks, wants to attract viewers with a different sound: Cantor’s cantabile con brio.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 11, 2018

He contrived a thrilling balance between cantabile and cutting edge, with a daring line in tiny pianissimos.

From The Guardian • Aug. 13, 2011

There was no magic in the cantabile right now.

From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser