Aricercar (/ˌriːtʃərˈkɑːr/REE-chər-KAR,Italian:[ritʃerˈkar]) orricercare (/ˌriːtʃərˈkɑːreɪ/REE-chər-KAR-ay,Italian:[ritʃerˈkaːre]) is a type of lateRenaissance and mostly earlyBaroque instrumental composition. The termricercar derives from the Italian verbricercare, which means "to search out; to seek"; many ricercars serve apreludial function to "search out" thekey ormode of a following piece. A ricercar may explore the permutations of a givenmotif, and in that regard may follow the piece used as illustration. The term is also used to designate anetude or study that explores a technical device in playing an instrument, or singing.
In its most common contemporary usage, it refers to an early kind offugue, particularly one of a serious character in which the subject uses longnote values. However, the term has a considerably more varied historical usage.
Among the best-known ricercars are the two forharpsichord contained inBach'sThe Musical Offering andDomenico Gabrielli'sset of seven for solo cello. The latter set contains what are considered to be some of the earliest pieces for solo cello ever written.[1]
In the sixteenth century, the word ricercar could refer to several types of compositions. Terminology was flexible, even lax then: whether a composer called an instrumental piece atoccata, acanzona, afantasia, or a ricercar was clearly not a matter of strict taxonomy but a rather arbitrary decision. Yet ricercars fall into two general types: a predominantlyhomophonic piece, with occasional runs and passagework, not unlike a toccata, found from the late fifteenth to the mid-sixteenth century, after which time this type of piece came to be called a toccata;[2] and from the second half of the sixteenth century onward, a sectional work in which each section beginsimitatively, usually in avariation form. The second type of ricercar, the imitative,contrapuntal type, was to prove the more important historically, and eventually developed into the fugue.Marco Dall'Aquila (c. 1480–after 1538) was known forpolyphonic ricercars.[3]
Examples of both types of ricercars can be found in the works ofGirolamo Frescobaldi, e.g. in hisFiori musicali.[citation needed]