cantata
Americannoun
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a choral composition, either sacred and resembling a short oratorio or secular, as a lyric drama set to music but not to be acted.
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a metrical narrative set to recitative or alternate recitative and air, usually for a single voice accompanied by one or more instruments.
noun
Etymology
Origin of cantata
1715–25; < Italian, equivalent to cant ( are ) to sing ( see cant 1) + -ata -ate 1
Explanation
If you ever listen to classical music, you’ve probably heard a cantata — a piece of religious music made for voices and instruments. Johann Sebastian Bach was a famous composer of cantatas. He wrote hundreds, and you’ve probably heard them played at weddings, in a church, at a party thrown by a king (or in car commercials). The word comes from the Italian cantare, which means “sing,” and the singers are the focus of a cantata — whether it’s one person or a whole choir. Cantatas are often based on religious writing, but can be inspired by poetry and literature as well.
Vocabulary lists containing cantata
Ordinary Hazards
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Blended
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Abel's Island
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Hitchcock gave Herrmann the choice of writing a new cantata, but Herrmann realized that nothing could outdo “Storm Clouds.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
In 2004, a Bach cantata that had been lost for decades was rediscovered in the papers of Japanese pianist Chieko Hara.
From Barron's • Nov. 17, 2025
The 12-hour performance includes three movements: an hourlong live chamber music performance; a 10-hour immersive experience with prerecorded compositions, intermittent live music and projections; and an hourlong cantata.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 3, 2023
Legendary choreographer George Balanchine’s “Allegro Brillante” kicked off the evening; PNB Founding Artistic Director Kent Stowell’s epic 1993 creation “Carmina Burana,” set to Carl Orff’s popular cantata, ended the night with a crowd-pleasing exclamation mark.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 26, 2022
In the cantata the tune represented a tragic Muslim Princess, Erminia, during the Crusades.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
