Dear Craig, The word is a cognate of "research" (recercar, rechercher). I have always taken it to mean an exercise or a doodle, "looking for something nice to hear", somewhere between a "tastar de corde" (checking the thing's in tune) and a committed "fantasia" (a palpable hit).
Yours, Tony ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2004 4:20 PM Subject: Pronunciation and meaning > Greetings Scholars, > > I have for some time been puzzling over the pronunciation of a word that is > common to our music. Finally I dug out my copy of Webster's New World > Italian Dictionary and looked up the word ricercare. Now I have seen this > word spelled riceracr and ricercare, but the dictionary only had ricercare, > so I am guessing that the different spellings are simply variations of the > same word. At any rate I was rewarded with a phonetic breakdown of the word > which rendered it's correct pronunciation for me. However, in looking up > the word another puzzle presented itself, and that is what the word means. > The dictionary's definition runs thus; > > ricercare [rit(a symbol representing sh as in sheep)er'kare] transitive > verb (onore, gloria) to seek; (successo, piacere) to pursue; (motivi, > cause) to look for, try to determine; e ricercato dalla polizia he's wanted > by the police. (NB: Naturally I don't believe either the music or the > composer is wanted by the police, though with some itinerate musicians one > can never tell.) > > What does this word mean with respect to the music of the lute? How do I > interpret this word when interpreting the music as I play it? I think this > is important, but I'm at a loss as to how to define it in terms of the > music. I've been going through Dick Hoban's booklet of 16 ricercars from > the Siena Lute Manuscript (which is what prompted me to finally look up the > pronunciation) and I think having a better understanding of the word itsel f > in terms of the music will help me in understanding how to better interpret > that music. I've got the companion CD to this book, but I have not yet been > able to hear any sense of seeking or pursuit in the pieces played. Maybe > I'm missing something essential. > > As always, your greater experience and wisdom is appreciated. > > Regards, > Craig > > >
