A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Melisma

by William Smyth Rockstro

MELISMA (Gr. Μέλισμα, a Song). Any kind of Air, or Melody, as opposed to Recitative, or other music of a purely declamatory character. Thus, Mendelssohn employs the term^[1] in order to distinguish the Mediation and Ending of a Gregorian Tone from the Dominant, or Reciting Note. Other writers sometimes use it (less correctly) in the sense of Fioritura, or even Cadenza.

A work by Thomas Ravenscroft, entitled 'Melismata; Musical Phansies fitting the Court, citie, and country humours' (London, 1611), is much prized by collectors.

[ W. S. R. ]

1. See his letter to Zelter, dated Rome, June 16, 1851.