MusiLLection

The Ricercare (from the Italian ricercare , “to seek” or “to search”) is an early genre of instrumental composition from the Renaissance and the beginnings of the Baroque, characterized by an emphatically contrapuntal texture. The very etymology of the term suggests a process of “searching”—whether for tonal grounding or for the latent possibilities of a thematic nucleus through imitative development. Although this interpretation is not always explicitly documented in historical sources, it corresponds closely to the musical identity of the genre. In its earliest manifestations during the 16th century, the ricercare was closely associated with lute and keyboard practice—particularly the lute, organ, and harpsichord. In some contexts, it functioned as an introductory instrumental piece with an exploratory character, preparing the tonal space or stylistic atmosphere of a subsequent work. Its form was not yet strictly codified; it often relied on the free development of motifs, with emph...