The question is, what exactly did cantabile mean back then. The
art song had not yet been invented, and opera (to which we know
Bach was not attracted) was only beginning to make an impact. So
I am not sure Bach would necessarily mean the same as did Chopin
when he used the word. Will we ever know for sure ? I guess not.
Perhaps he just meant 'fluency' or something like that - I can
imagine a lot of keyboard players were not exactly fluent these
days and Bach felt it as his task to improve that level. Good
question, to ask what cantabile meant to Bach. If Bach meant
fluency instead cantabile he would wrote it, I think. I guess he
knew what he wrote. It is true that he did not like operas but
does than mean that he disliked singing in general? No, I don't
believe, and he has written lots for voice. Has the meaning of
cantabile changed through the age? It describes the manner to
try to play as if a singer would sing, right?. Maybe the manner
singer perform has changed over ages. Certain criteria about the
singi