A cantata (from the Italian cantare — “to sing”) is a multi-movement work for one or several soloists, choir, and instrumental accompaniment, usually on a particular subject or theme. It is smaller than an oratorio and does not necessarily have an extended dramatic action.
The cantata reached its highest flowering in the Baroque era in the work of J.S. Bach, who wrote over 200 sacred cantatas for the Lutheran service — a veritable encyclopedia of the genre. Cantatas may be sacred (on religious texts) or secular (solemn, congratulatory, lyrical). In Ukrainian music, notable cantatas were created by Mykola Lysenko to the words of Shevchenko (“B'yut porohy,” “Raduysia, nyvo nepolytaya”), raising the genre to the summits of national art. The cantata combines the chamber-like with the solemnity of a great vocal canvas.
