Wiktionary (0.00 / 0 votes) Rate this definition: quaff (Noun). The act of quaffing, a deep draught. quaff (Verb). To drink or imbibe, especially with vigour. Origin: Attested since the mid 16th century, of uncertain origin. Suggestions include connection with Irish Gaelic cauch (whence Scots quaich, queff). The noun is derived from the verb, since the later 16th century.
The recitative is an outgrowth of the style of performing epic musical poetic works in folk singing. The emergence of the recitative in professional music was associated with the development of opera in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
Libretto. (lÉbrÄt`Å) [Ital.,=little book], the text of an opera or an oratorio. Although a play usually emphasizes an integrated plot, a libretto is most often a loose plot connecting a series of episodes.Characterization and emotion are suggested by the words of a libretto but are expressed by the music.The first major librettist was Ottavio Rinuccini, an Italian poet of the 16th cent.lÉbrÄt`Å) [Ital.,=little book], the text of an opera or an oratorio. Although a play usually emphasizes an integrated plot, a libretto is most often a loose plot connecting a series of episodes.