5 - Concerning recitative

Summary

1. There are three different kinds of recitatives; and in three different kinds of recitatives must the teacher instruct his students.

2. The first kind is the church recitative, and [is first] for a good reason. It is performed in a manner suitable to the sanctity of the place. It does not permit the lightheartedness of a free composition style but rather requires here and there a long sustaining of a note [messa di voce], many appoggiaturas, and a noble seriousness that is constantly maintained. The art of expressing it cannot be learned in any other way than out of a conviction of this truth: that one is speaking to God.

3. The second kind is the theatrical recitative. Because it is inseparably connected with the action of the singer, this recitative requires the teacher to instruct the student in a certain imitation that is true to nature and that cannot be beautiful unless it is performed with the stately decorum with which princes and those who consort with them speak.

4. The third kind, called the chamber recitative, is, according to the judgment of knowledgeable men, more capable than the others of touching the natural emotions of the human heart.