melismatic

Adjective

melismatic (comparative more melismatic, superlative most melismatic)

1. Of, relating to, or being a melisma; the style of singing several notes to one syllable of text.
   • Because slower metrical types are more melismatic and ornamented than primary-meter, their melodic-passages in both xipi and erhuang are more melismatic and complex than those of primary-meter.1991, Elizabeth Wichmann, Listening to Theatre: The Aural Dimension of Beijing Opera, University of Hawaii Press, page 92
   • In general, the more melismatic a piece, the more solemn, elaborate, and difficult it is, and the more the text is dominated by the music.1998, Barbara Newman, Introduction, Barbara Newman (translator), Hildegard von Bingen, Symphonia: A Critical Edition of the Symphonia armonie celestium revelationum, Cornell University Press, 2nd...