How to Use recitative in a Sentence

recitative

noun
Definition of recitativenext
  • The opera made use of recitative.
  • Thanks to the conductor Ryan Brown and the four singers, the recitatives between the set pieces stayed suspenseful; the act took us through quite a spectrum.
    — Alastair MacAulay, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2018
  • Jokes about tenors or recitatives, for instance, playfully turn the spotlight on the conventions of the genre.
    — Corinna Da Fonseca-Wollheim, New York Times, 30 Dec. 2016
  • The recitatives that had been thought to be the opera’s longueurs here were shown to be, in fact, as subtly inflected as Gregorian chant.
    — Mark Swed, latimes.com, 14 June 2017
  • The conducting was brisk and buoyant, the recitatives clear and expressive.
    — Heidi Waleson, WSJ, 21 Aug. 2017
  • His soliloquy consists of a grim prelude, a spacious recitative and a grand aria in the standard two-part (slow-fast) form.
    — Will Crutchfield, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2020
  • Soprano Golda Schultz was frankly perfect in her recitatives and arias.
    — Special To The Plain Dealer, cleveland.com, 19 Jan. 2018
  • The piece begins with a long recitative and aria in which Ms. Southwell’s Sarah admits to murdering her husband and two children but tries to explain her motives.
    — Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2017
  • Hugo Hymas was responsible for both the Evangelist’s zealous recitatives and the first choir’s tenor part, and rose admirably to his Herculean task.
    — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 12 June 2019
  • Addressing the crowd in Norma’s first lines of dramatic recitative, Monastyrska got off to a rough start, her tone turning harsh at the top of her range and not ideally centered on pitch.
    — Eric Skelly, Houston Chronicle, 1 May 2018
  • The dramatis personae at the empty tomb are represented in recitatives and a long soprano aria.
    — Scott Cantrell, Dallas News, 1 May 2023
  • Musical declamation of the kind usual in the narrative and dialogue parts of opera and oratorio, sung in the rhythm of ordinary speech with many words on the same note: singing in recitative.
    — Zadie Smith, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2022
  • The sound of the cello cuts in like a pang of guilt, then tumbles down in wistful figures, becoming the voice of his conscience and delivering a recitative of grizzled remorse and tenderness.
    — Richard Sandomir, New York Times, 3 Aug. 2021
  • Here, with help from the pop/rock orchestration of music director Ben Kapilow, brief speech slides gracefully into recitative, then bursts into song as the passion of the speaker rises.
    — Hugh Hunter, Philly.com, 4 Feb. 2018
  • The harpsichord, usually heard only in recitatives, joined some of the arias and ensembles in witty, improvisatory fashion.
    — David Patrick Stearns, Philly.com, 1 May 2017
  • Abreu brings off the suicidal artist’s 30-minute succession of arias and accompanied recitatives most skillfully, while Mortellaro makes a most alluring love-object.
    — John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, 15 Apr. 2018
  • Out of five arias and four recitatives, Forsythe and a vivacious orchestra under Jeannette Sorrell crafted so many individual scenes, each with its own character and mood.
    — Zachary Lewis, cleveland.com, 12 Feb. 2018
  • The result is a strictly musical (that is, without dialogue or recitative) compendium of the luminaries of the age: Couperin, Lully, Marais, and Charpentier.
    — Zachary Lewis, cleveland, 24 Mar. 2022
  • Holding it all together was conductor Harry Bicket, who also played harpsichord for the recitatives.
    — Heidi Waleson, WSJ, 7 Feb. 2020
  • These collective manipulations lend a creepy element to the recitatives, which were otherwise performed as Handel wrote them.
    — Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 14 July 2017
  • It’s all performed in a childlike sing-songy yet occasional atonal operatic recitative.
    — Matthew J. Palm, orlandosentinel.com, 18 May 2021
  • Monteverdi, though, was careful to avoid long stretches of uninterrupted recitative.
    — Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 22 Oct. 2017
  • This is accomplished in 34 short musical numbers, including arias, ariosos, choruses, recitatives and chorales.
    — Alan Artner, chicagotribune.com, 16 May 2017
  • Glover conducted with urgency as well as accompanied recitatives on harpsichord.
    — Alan Artner, chicagotribune.com, 16 May 2017
  • Her entrance to the short second recitative was particularly noteworthy, powerful without being overbearing.
    — Matthew J. Palm, orlandosentinel.com, 22 Feb. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'recitative.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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