Definition of ricercar in English:
ricercar
(also ricercare)
nounPlural ricercari, Plural ricercarsˌriːtʃəˈkɑːˈriːtʃəˌkɑːˌrēCHərˈkär
Music An elaborate contrapuntal instrumental composition in fugal or canonic style, typically of the 16th to 18th centuries.
〔乐〕利切卡尔
Example sentencesExamples
- In the Mulliner Book the term is applied in this way, and voluntaries there are seen to be a sort of contrapuntal fantasia or ricercar without any cantus firmus.
- Those familiar with the term ‘ricercare’ may wonder why Seeger titled her pieces so, since the ricercare is, generally speaking, a composition with relies heavily on contrapuntal imitation.
- In the music, a complex web of ricercars, or intricate contrapuntal studies, seems to reflect the labyrinth of Saragossa's subterranean corridors through which the prisoner stumbles.
- At this point I compared the structures of Bach's two ricercars with that of Handel's Fuga V.
- And the ricercars, though performed instrumentally here, were actually printed at the end of a volume of madrigals.
Origin
From Italian ricercare 'search out'.