cantilena

American  

[kan-tl-ee-nuh] / ˌkæn tlˈi nə /

noun

1. a simple, lyric, melodic passage for voice or instrument.

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cantilena British  

/ ˌkæntɪˈleɪnə /

noun

1. a smooth flowing style in the writing of vocal music

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Etymology

Origin of cantilena

1730–40; < Italian < Latin cantilēna refrain, perhaps by dissimilation from *cantilēla, derivative of cantus song; see cant ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cantilena

At one point, he and the dancers stop while a soprano, Joélle Harvey, in an upper balcony, sings a series of long cantilena lines very beautifully, though only some words can be distinguished.

From New York Times ● Mar. 23, 2012

The soft neck and upper back, the eloquent épaulement, the cantilena phrasing – all were combined in a performance of ravishing individuality.

From The Guardian ● May 29, 2010

He would sing to her as she worked, a cantilena from / Puritani, a melody of Beethoven.

From Time Magazine Archive

Spinning out its delicately chromatic cantilena like the mistress of cantabile that she is, Soprano Caballe stopped the show for a full two minutes and 45 seconds.

From Time Magazine Archive

The suite includes a "Misericordia" depicting a midnight cortège along the Arno, and modelled on Chopin's funeral march in structure with its hoarse dirge and its rich cantilena.

From Contemporary American Composers Being a Study of the Music of This Country, Its Present Conditions and Its Future, with Critical Estimates and Biographies of the Principal Living Composers; and an Abundance of Portraits, Fac-simile Musical Autographs, and Compositions by Hughes, Rupert