Coloratura
Florid, agile vocal writing with rapid ornament
Related
Coloratura is florid, agile, virtuosic vocal writing: scalar runs, arpeggios, trills, leaps and high-register ornament. It is associated with the coloratura soprano.
It differs from a cadenza: coloratura is a style of writing/singing, a cadenza a structural section in a concerto or aria. The usual mistake is to equate coloratura with high notes — its core is agility and clarity, not altitude; accurate and light is harder than high.
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Sources
- coloratura 的声乐含义与历史，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Coloratura"；本文为原创表述
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