accompagnato

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accompagnato (It.). Accompanied. In It. opera, from about the time of Cavalli, recitativo accompagnato meant a dramatic type of recit., fully written-out with ens. acc., as opposed to recitativo secco, notated with figured bass acc. only. In 18th-cent. opera, acc. recit. was normally reserved for the most important dramatic scenes and introduced the most brilliant arias.