The earliest ricercari, such as those by Spinacino in 1507, were short improvisational lute pieces that alternated chordal passages with rapid scales.
Composition History
Girolamo Cavazzoni's Intavolatura cioe Recercari Canzoni Himni Magnificati...libro primo (Venice, 1543) was the first collection of ricercari written exclusively for the organ.
Compositional Technique
The ricercare, a type of composition featured on this album, was defined by Johann Gottfried Walther in 1732 as an elaborate fugue, or a piece where the composer searches for harmonic progressions.
Album & Artwork
The front illustration of the album features Sandro Botticelli's "Madonna and Child with singing Angels" from around 1477.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded in November 1997 at the Basilica di San Petronio in Bologna, Italy.
Composition History
The collection Musica Nova, published in Venice in 1540, was the first to feature ricercari in imitative counterpoint, with contributions from composers like Giulio Segni and Adrian Willaert.
Compositional Technique
Jacques Buus, an organist at Saint Mark's in Venice, developed both the longest polythematic ricercari and created the monothematic ricercare, a form later developed by Andrea Gabrieli.
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