Cabaletta - A brisk aria in Italian opera, generally following a more solemn, thoughtful one; the cabaletta frequently refers to a contradictory or complimentary state of mind, and may even lead towards impassioned action from the character on stage. The term itself comes from the Italian "cavallo", which means horse: the accompaniment of the cabaletta frequently resembles the animal's galloping gait.

Cadenza - A musical flourish, frequently made upon the spot by the performer, which occurs when an aria or a section of an aria seems to be coming to its close (its cadence spot); until the time of Verdi, cadenzas were expected to be improvised by the singer or the performer and were seldom notated precisely by the composer. The long passage between soprano and flute in the mad scene of Lucia di Lammermoor is an improvised double cadenza for those performers.

Camerata - A gathering of writers and musician who, in the late 16th century, regularly met to discuss art and experiment with form. In the years prior to 1580, the gathering assembled at the residence of Giovanni de Bardi, and after 1592, at the home of Jacopo Corsi. Vincenzo Galileo, the astronomer's father, was among them. Their deliberations led directly to the rise of opera as a combination of music, drama and stage spectacle. Jacopo Peri, a musician at the Medici court and a member of the Camerata, was the composer of Dafne (1597), considered to be the first opera.

Cantabile - An expression (another one taken from "cantare") which asks the performer to sing or play in a sweetly singing manner.

Cantata - A musical form, generally for chorus and soloists, based on a primarily narrative text; the most famous cantatas are those written by Bach, all of which take scriptural texts as their starting points--some are even for solo voice and instrument.

Cantilena - A lyrical melody line obviously meant to be sung or played "cantabile."

Canzone - A short, lyrical operatic song; the term itself may have originated in Provence and could have referred to arias which have no narrative quality at all, but simply reflect the singer's state of mind. Cherubino's "Voi che sapete" in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro is called a canzone.

Canzonetta - Literally, a little "canzone;" Mozart used the words "canzone" and "canzonetta" frequently to differentiate between the more serious (and longer) arias and the shorter (and more conversational) solo work in his operas.

Cavatina - A short, simple solo song, occasionally instrumental rather than vocal, that was popular in 18th century Italian opera.

Classical - The period in music which comes after the baroque period and before the romantic; the dates are roughly 1756 (which is the birth of Mozart) to 1830 (three years after the death of Beethoven). Although the period is not as long as the baroque period, it represents the greatest standardization in orchestral form and sonority; even composers who lived beyond 1830 continued to use the standard "classical" orchestra of pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, strings and timpani.

Coda - The last musical thoughts in a composition; in strict formal terms, a piece might contain exposition (which sets forth the principal themes of the work), development (which uses that material in new and varied fashions), recapitulation (where the principal material is restated almost verbatim), cadenza (for a last minute vocal improvisation, sometimes based on the early materials in the work), and coda (where one last little idea is put forward by the composer).

Coloratura - A type of soprano, generally, but also the description of singing which pertains to great feats of agility--fast singing, high singing, trills, embellishments and so forth. Some coloratura sopranos during this century have been Lily Pons, Roberta Peters, Joan Sutherland and Beverly Sills. This example of coloratura is Marguerite's "Jewel Song" from Gounod's Faust.

Commedia Dell'Arte - A style of dramatic presentation popular in Italy from the 16th century on; the commedia characters were highly stylized and the plots frequently revolved around disguises, mistaken identities and misunderstandings. The principal commedia characters are Pierrot, Harlequin and Colombine. Operatic spoofs of the commedia characters can be found in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos.

Comprimario - A singer who takes the secondary character roles in an opera, from the Italian, which means "next to the first"; confidantes, maids, servants, messengers and medical personnel generally fit under the heading of comprimario roles.

Continuo - The small group of instruments that accompanies the recitatives in baroque music; as a general rule, the continuo group comprises cello and harpsichord or organ, although in some of the larger works of Monteverdi (Orfeo, The Coronation of Poppea) the continuo group can comprise a dozen or more instruments.

Contralto - The lowest female voice; the term itself comes from two Italian words that signify against ("contra") the high ("alto") voice. In baroque operas, the contralto generally represented a certain character type on stage: either comic (a sort of female basso buffo), or spooky and other worldly, or just plain matronly. Marian Anderson and Maureen Forrester have been legendary contraltos in the concert and operatic world.

Counterpoint - The putting together of two or more independent musical lines; when the same musical tune is repeated several times, in different vocal ranges, the result can be a fugue or a round.

Countertenor - A high male voice, generally singing within the female contralto or mezzo soprano range; popular in the baroque period, the countertenor frequently portrayed young, virile men or innocent, blushing adolescents--the voices were generally quite powerful, and not considered effeminate. This vocal range is sometimes referred to as "male alto."