Editing Toccata (section)

===Baroque===
{{listen|type=music
 | filename     = Toccata et Fugue BWV565.ogg
 | title        = Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565
 | description  = Composed by [[Johann Sebastian Bach]], [[MIDI]] rendition uploaded by Ashtar Moïra
 | format       = [[ogg]]
 | filename2    = JSBach Toccata Dmaj.ogg
 | title2       = Toccata in D major, BWV 912
 | description2 = Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed on a piano by [[Randolph Hokanson]]
 | format2      = [[ogg]]
 | filename3    = Johann Pachelbel Toccata e-Moll.ogg
 | title3       = Toccata in E minor
 | description3 = Composed by [[Johann Pachelbel]], performed on a church organ in [[Trubschachen]], Switzerland by Burghard Fischer
 | format3      = [[Ogg]]
 | filename4    = Johann Pachelbel Toccata F-Dur.ogg
 | title4       = Toccata in F major
 | description4 = Composed by Johann Pachelbel, performed on a church organ in Trubschachen, Switzerland by Burghard Fischer
 | format4      = [[Ogg]]
 | filename5    = Girolamo Frescobaldi - Toccata 3.ogg
 | title5       = Toccata
 | description5 = Composed by [[Girolamo Frescobaldi]], performed by Sylvia Kind on a harpsichord of the type used by [[Wanda Landowska]]
 | format5      = [[Ogg]]
 | filename6    = Scarlatti - Toccata 3.ogg
 | title6       = Toccata
 | description6 = Composed by [[Alessandro Scarlatti]], performed by Sylvia Kind on a harpsichord of the type used by Wanda Landowska
 | format6      = [[ogg]]
}}
The [[Baroque music|Baroque]] toccata, beginning with [[Girolamo Frescobaldi]], is more sectional and increased in length, intensity and virtuosity from the Renaissance version, reaching heights of extravagance equivalent to the overwhelming detail seen in the architecture of the period. It often featured rapid runs and [[arpeggio]]s alternating with chordal or [[fugue|fugal]] parts. Sometimes there was a lack of regular tempo and almost always an [[improvisation]]al feel.

Other Baroque composers of toccatas, in the period before Bach, include [[Johann Pachelbel]], [[Michelangelo Rossi]], [[Johann Jakob Froberger]], [[Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck]], [[Alessandro Scarlatti]], and [[Dieterich Buxtehude]].

Bach's toccatas are among the most famous examples of the form, and his [[Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565]] is one of the most popular organ works today, although its authorship is disputed by some authorities.<ref>"BWV 565: a toccata in D minor for organ by J. S. Bach?", ''Early Music'', vol. 9, July, 1981, pp. 330–337.</ref> His toccatas for organ are improvisatory compositions, and are often followed by an independent [[fugue]] movement. In such cases, the toccata is used in place of the usually more stable [[prelude (music)|prelude]]. Bach's [[Toccatas for Keyboard (Bach)|toccatas for harpsichord]] BWV 910-916 are multi-sectional works which include fugal writing, rhetorical flourishes, recitative, and aria-like movements as part of their structure.