Term used for a particularly sustained or lyrical vocal line, usually for solo voice, meaning lullaby in Italian. The Italian verb cantilenare means ‘to hum’ and this wordless quality is also important. Thus the first movement of Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas brasileiras no.5, which ends with a hummed line for solo voice (see Bocca chiusa), is marked cantilena. Cantilena can also refer to an instrumental passage with this lyrical and vocal quality.
ELLEN T. HARRIS