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sprechgesang

[German shprekh-guh-zahng]
noun
  1. a vocal style intermediate between speech and singing but without exact pitch intonation.
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Origin of sprechgesang

< German, equivalent to sprech(en) to speak + Gesang song
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for sprechgesang

sprechgesang

noun
  1. music a type of vocalization between singing and recitation in which the voice sings the beginning of each note and then falls rapidly from the notated pitch. It was originated by Arnold Schoenberg, who used it in Pierrot Lunaire (1912)
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Word Origin

C20: from German, literally: speaking-song
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012