Listen: Ricercar examples
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About Ricercar
Ricercar is a music genre. It is usually classed as a form of classical music and composed musical work.
From Wikipedia
A ricercar or ricercare is a type of late Renaissance and mostly early Baroque instrumental composition. The term ricercar derives from the Italian verb ricercare, which means "to search out; to seek"; many ricercars serve a preludial function to "search out" the key or mode of a following piece. A ricercar may explore the permutations of a given motif, and in that regard may follow the piece used as illustration. The term is also used to designate an étude or study that explores a technical device in playing an instrument, or singing.
In its most common current usage, it refers to an early kind of fugue, particularly one of a serious character in which the subject uses long note values. The term has a considerably more varied historical usage, however.
Genre family tree
Parent genres (↑) and subgenres (↓) of Ricercar.
- ↑ classical music
- ↑ composed musical work
Related genres
Opera
1600s · Europe
Chamber music
form of classical music composed for a small group of instruments
Sonata
1600s · Europe
Baroque music
1600s
Cantata
1600s
Fugue
contrapuntal musical form based on a subject that recurs in imitation
Madrigal
secular vocal music composition of the Renaissance and early Baroque e
Overture
instrumental introduction to any musical piece
Frequently asked questions
What is Ricercar?
Ricercar is a music genre. It is usually classed as a form of classical music and composed musical work.
Sources & credits
- Wikidata Q746743 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Ricercar – CC BY-SA 4.0
- MusicBrainz genre – CC0
- Ricercar a 6 from the Musical Offering bars 29-31 by J.S.Bach – Public domain
- Inleiding Ricercar Consort olv. Philippe Pierlot (audio) by deSingel – CC BY 4.0
- Inleiding Ricercar Consort olv. Philippe Pierlot - Monteverdi (audio) by deSingel – CC BY 4.0