Coloratura

Farinelli, a soprano castrato famous for singing baroque coloratura roles (Bartolomeo Nazari, 1734)

Coloratura (UK: /ˌkɒlərəˈtjʊərə/ KOL-ər-ə-TURE, US: /ˌkʌl-/ KUL-, Italian: [koloraˈtuːra]; lit.'coloring', from Latin colorare 'to color')[1] is an elaborate melody with runs, trills, wide leaps, or similar virtuoso-like material,[1][2] or a passage of such music. Operatic roles in which such music plays a prominent part, and singers of these roles, are also called coloratura.[3] Its instrumental equivalent is ornamentation. Coloratura is particularly found in vocal music and especially in operatic singing of the 18th and 19th centuries.

  1. ^ a b Oxford American Dictionaries.
  2. ^ Apel (1969), p. 184.
  3. ^ Steane, J. B.; Jander, Owen, "Coloratura" in Sadie (1992) 1: 907.