Dale Carr | Capriccio sopra Ut-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La, by Frescobaldi performed by Dale Carr on a Broekman harpsichord @dalecarr6361 | Uploaded April 2024 | Updated October 2024, 5 hours ago.
Capriccio sopra Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, by Girolamo Frescobaldi, performed by Dale Carr in the church in Nieuw Scheemda {province of Groningen} on 22 May, 1993, on a harpsichord built in 1975 by Hendrik Broekman {based on an instrument from 1688 by Michel Richard} with decoration by Sheridan Germann
Capriccio is essentially not much more than a “fleeting thought”. In Italian music the name usually refers to a work composed in a polyphonic style, on a particular subject (= soggetto). Polyphonic works for keyboard were customarily notated in open score, i.e. with each voice on its own staff. The transitions are sometimes in a non-polyphonic, toccata-like style, but still notated in open score.
To vary the subject, Frescobaldi uses several standard techniques: inversion, chromatic alteration, varying meters & tempi. These are easily seen in the notation. He also uses the technique of inganni, which the notation does not point out & which may thus require some explanation. Inganno means “deception” or “misleading”. The deception lies in substituting for an expected tone of a soggetto a different tone (not just a chromatic inflection). There were 3 hexachords, the “natural” beginning on c, the “hard” beginning on g, and the “soft” beginning on f and using b-flat. This gave the composer 2 alternatives as inganni for most notes of the soggetto. The note ‘c’ could thus be interpreted as ut, or as fa, or as sol. I have pointed out 3 inganni near the beginning of the piece in annotations to the running score ; the interested listener will be able to find many more. I am convinced that these technical devices in the works of Frescobaldi are not simply an erudite game but also, just as inversions or canons, serve a musical purpose.
There’s another performance of this work, by me on the unsurpassed organ in the Der Aa-Kerk in Groningen, on this channel @ youtube.com/watch?v=6IxQb3lKLUs
Capriccio sopra Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, by Girolamo Frescobaldi, performed by Dale Carr in the church in Nieuw Scheemda {province of Groningen} on 22 May, 1993, on a harpsichord built in 1975 by Hendrik Broekman {based on an instrument from 1688 by Michel Richard} with decoration by Sheridan Germann
Capriccio is essentially not much more than a “fleeting thought”. In Italian music the name usually refers to a work composed in a polyphonic style, on a particular subject (= soggetto). Polyphonic works for keyboard were customarily notated in open score, i.e. with each voice on its own staff. The transitions are sometimes in a non-polyphonic, toccata-like style, but still notated in open score.
To vary the subject, Frescobaldi uses several standard techniques: inversion, chromatic alteration, varying meters & tempi. These are easily seen in the notation. He also uses the technique of inganni, which the notation does not point out & which may thus require some explanation. Inganno means “deception” or “misleading”. The deception lies in substituting for an expected tone of a soggetto a different tone (not just a chromatic inflection). There were 3 hexachords, the “natural” beginning on c, the “hard” beginning on g, and the “soft” beginning on f and using b-flat. This gave the composer 2 alternatives as inganni for most notes of the soggetto. The note ‘c’ could thus be interpreted as ut, or as fa, or as sol. I have pointed out 3 inganni near the beginning of the piece in annotations to the running score ; the interested listener will be able to find many more. I am convinced that these technical devices in the works of Frescobaldi are not simply an erudite game but also, just as inversions or canons, serve a musical purpose.
There’s another performance of this work, by me on the unsurpassed organ in the Der Aa-Kerk in Groningen, on this channel @ youtube.com/watch?v=6IxQb3lKLUs
