Cantata

Cantata, in Music, was originally the name applied to a sort of musical narrative by one person, accompanied by a single instrument. Subsequently an air was introduced, repeated at intervals during the recitative. Many works now forgotten were written in this form by Carissimi and other composers of the 17th and 18th centuries. It is represented in modern music by the concert-aria (see ARIA). The name is now applied to choral works, either sacred, and similar to, but shorter than the oratorio; or secular, either lyric or dramatic, but not intended for the stage.