Girolamo Diruta (ca. 1546 – 1624 or 1625) 12 Ricercare (Harpsichord)

1) 00:00 2) 00:26 3) 00:58 4) 01:28 5) 02:00 6) 02:27 7) 02:58 8) 03:18 9) 03:49 10) 04:08 11) 04:34 12) 05:05 “Ricercar” was the name used for contrapuntal compositions in the early 17thcentury (and occasionally, also in the 18th). One might say that they are early fugues. These twelve short ricercare are found in the second part of a famous treatise on counterpoint by Diruta entitled “Il Transilvano” (published in Venice, 1609 and 1622). It is austere, meditative music written primarily for the organ, though it is eminently playable on the harpsichord (or in this case, on the spinet) as well. What a difference in expression between these works, and the pieces that were written towards the end of the harpsichord era, i.e., the 1780s and 90s! Such somber counterpoint has something “other- worldly” about it, as if it were far from the realm of everyday human emotion, whereas 150 years later, most works were precisely the opposite: they expressed all sorts of pe