Recercada Primera (Unaccompanied)

Master Spanish Renaissance recercada form
Execute solo polyphonic style without accompaniment
Develop modal harmony and Renaissance cadences
Perfect historical performance of 16th-century virtuosity

About This Piece

Composer: Diego Ortiz (c. 1510-c. 1570)

Difficulty: Advanced

Source: Trattado de Glosas (Rome, 1553)

Form: Recercada - improvisatory instrumental work

Performance: Unaccompanied solo

Opening Section

Free, exploratory opening. Tempo: ♩ = 80-92

Middle Development

Virtuosic divisions in Renaissance style.

Conclusion

Renaissance cadence patterns.

Performance Practice

Diego Ortiz's Trattado de Glosas (1553) is the most important source for Renaissance improvisation and diminution practice. The recercadas are instrumental works demonstrating virtuosic diminution technique. This Primera (First) is unaccompanied, demanding complete musical independence. Perform with modal sensibility and Renaissance rhetorical freedom.

Performance Goal: Demonstrate Renaissance virtuosity and improvisatory freedom. Your performance should sound spontaneous while being technically secure. Essential for understanding 16th-century performance practice and diminution technique. This repertoire predates Baroque style - approach with modal, Renaissance sensibility.

Practice Strategy

Study Renaissance modal theory and cadences
Analyze Ortiz's diminution patterns - use as improvisation models
Practice with rhetorical freedom - avoid metric rigidity
Listen to Renaissance viol music for stylistic context
Consider this as historical foundation for later variation techniques