Recitative

Recitative (from the Italian 'recitativo', from 'recitare', meaning 'to recite') is a style of vocal delivery in opera and oratorio that closely mirrors the rhythms and inflections of natural speech, prioritising text clarity over melodic beauty. While primarily a vocal form, recitative passages appear in piano music too — Beethoven wrote extraordinary piano recitatives in his late sonatas (notably Op. 31 No. 2 'Tempest' and Op. 110), asking the pianist to imitate the declamatory freedom of a singer. In these passages, strict rhythm gives way to rhetorical pacing: you speak through the instrument, pausing where a speaker would pause, emphasising where an orator would stress. Play recitative passages as if delivering a speech — let the rhythm breathe, vary your tone colour with each phrase, and resist the temptation to keep strict time.