Dear Craig, A ricercar is a freely composed instrumental piece, not a song, and not a dance. I believe that the idea of "seeking out" is important in how we go about playing a ricercar. When I play, for example, Capirola's Ricercar Primo, I imagine that I am Capirola trying to find something in the music, experimenting, trying different musical ideas, to see if I can light upon that elusive, indefinable something or other. I try this, try that, try something else to see if it is what I am after. I listen carefully to every chord, to each phrase I play. No. That's no good. Let's try something different. Ah, that's nice. Let's see if that phrase works better down a tone, or maybe down another tone. I play the whole piece as if I am making it all up as I go along, thinking about what to play next, even though I'm really reading the music. The piece is an exploration in sound. Of course one never actually discovers what it is one is looking for. It is the seeking out - the quest - which is the important thing.
Try playing a ricercar with that mindset, and see how you get on. The chances are that you will play the piece more expressively than you would have done, if you just hacked through it thoughtlessly. Best wishes, Stewart McCoy. ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2004 3:20 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 itself > 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
