Ricercate, passaggi et cadentie

Ricercate, passagi et cadentie

Ricercate, passaggi et cadentie per potersi esercitar nel diminuir terminatamente con ogni sorte d’istrumento; et anco diversi passaggi per la semplice voce (more commonly referred to as Ricercate, Passaggi et Cadentie) is a book of musical works written by Giovanni Bassano. It was first published in 1585 during the renaissance era and was one of the few works that Bassano wrote under the study of Giovanni Gabrielli.

The book consists of ten sections; the first eight sections are ricercates, which are then followed by a passagi and finally a cadentie. Each section of the piece is played in a different mode and focuses on a different technique of ornamentation when transcribing vocal works for instruments. The book gives detailed information on the importance of a proper transcription and is meant to be played similar to an etude. The book is written to be played by any treble instrument, but it is most likely during it's time to have been played by a cornet as Bassano himself was a cornettist

Details

The book consists of ten separate pieces; eight Ricercatas, a Passaggi Diminuiti and a Cadentie Diminuite. The piece is written in a late phase of mensural notation with most notes resembling whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, or eighth notes. The smallest subdivision is the eighth note, but most modern interpretations of the piece play the eighth notes faster depending on how many are written into a measure since there are no time signatures written in the piece. Usually the more eighth notes in a measure the faster they are played.

Ricercatas

Each of the eight Ricercatas start in a different mode but follow a similar structure. The Ricercatas start off with slow motifs, usually outlining a triad to establish the tonic of the piece. The piece will progress from a simple slow melody to very fast and quick scalar runs that can span several octaves. As the runs get faster, they cadence with half-step like trills. After the cadence, the melody starts slow again and then quickly races back into its flashy runs until it cadences again with another set of half-step trills. This sequence will happen multiple times throughout each Ricercata, and every Ricercata ends with this trill-like cadence.

Passaggi Diminuiti and Cadentie Diminuiti

The Passaggi Diminuiti consists mainly of short but fast runs that are separated by one or more semibreve. The Cadentie Diminuiti is similar to the Passaggi Diminuiti, but the flashy runs are much more elaborate and drawn out, and nearly all of them end with the same half-step cadential trills seen in the Ricercatas.

References and Further Reading

• Bassano, Giovanni Ricercate Passaggi et Cadentie, Venice: Giacomo Vincenzi & Ricciardo Andimo, 1585
• Latham, Allison. "Oxford Reference." Oxford Companion to Music. Oxford University Press, 2011. Web. 28 Sept. 2015. <http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199579037.001.0001/acref-9780199579037>. 
• Sadie, Stanley, and George Grove. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. London: Macmillan, 1980. Print.
• Gangwere, Blanche. Music History during the Renaissance Period, 1520-1550: A Documented Chronology. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004. Print.
• Stevens, Denis. Monteverdi in Venice. Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 2001. Print.
• Reese, Gustave. Music in the Renaissance. New York: Norton, 1959. Print.
• Kite-Powell, Jeffery T. A Performer's Guide to Renaissance Music. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2007. Print.

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