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Woman singing sprechgesang

Sprechgesang

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The German word Sprechgesang is used in English to describe an expressive kind of singing that is part speech and part singing, usually following the rhythm of music. Sometimes also called speech singing or spoken song in English, the speech-like singing of sprechgesang was heard in early 20th century Expressionist music, occurs in opera, and can be widely heard today in rap music.

The German verb sprechen means to speak, and the German word Gesang means singing or vocals. The prefix sprech- from sprechen creates compound words referring to speech, and in fact another German compound word Sprechstimme uses the word Stimme, meaning voice, to describe a very similar style of singing. In English Sprechstimme is often used interchangeably with Sprechgesang but normally describes a music that more tightly follows notes on a page,