cavatina

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cavatina (It.).
1. Operatic solo aria in regular form and in one section instead of the classical aria's 3, without repetition of words or phrases, e.g. Porgi amor from Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. Also used of song-like air incl. in a long scena. In 19th cent. opera term was applied to elaborate virtuoso aria, e.g. Rosina's Una voce poco fà in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia.

2. Song-like instr. piece, e.g. Raff's Cavatina and the Cavatina movement of Beethoven's Str. Qt. in B♭, Op.130. 3rd movement of Vaughan Williams's 8th Sym. (1955) is a cavatina for str.