Editing Toccata

{{Short description|Type of virtuoso instrumental musical composition}}
{{other uses}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2012}}
[[File:Ringk Copy - First Page Fragment.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|The first page of [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J. S. Bach]]'s [[Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565]]]]
<ref>Dunlap, Candice. "An Historic Overview of the Toccata as a Form and Compositional Technique." (2005).</ref>'''Toccata''' (from [[Italian language|Italian]] ''toccare'', literally, "to touch", with "toccata" being the action of touching) is a [[virtuoso]] piece of music typically for a [[keyboard instrument|keyboard]] or [[plucked string instrument]] featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections, with or without [[imitation (music)|imitative]] or [[fugue|fugal]] interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer's fingers. Less frequently, the name is applied to works for multiple instruments (the opening of [[Claudio Monteverdi]]'s opera ''[[L'Orfeo]]'' being a notable example).

==History==
===Renaissance===
<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tischler |first=Hans |title=The History of Keyboard Music to 1700 |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1972 |isbn=0-253-32795-4 |edition=1st |location=Bloomington/London |publication-date=1972 |pages=222 |language=English}}</ref>Little is known about the origination of the toccata other than that it was likely adapted from music for festive functions that was written for trumpet and timpani and latter transcribed for the organ or other keyboard instruments. The form first appeared in the late [[Renaissance music|Renaissance]] period. It originated in northern Italy. Several publications of the 1590s include toccatas, by composers such as [[Claudio Merulo]], [[Andrea Gabrieli|Andrea]] and [[Giovanni Gabrieli]], [[Adriano Banchieri]], and [[Luzzasco Luzzaschi]]. These are keyboard compositions in which one hand, and then the other, performs virtuosic runs and brilliant cascading passages against a chordal accompaniment in the other hand. Among the composers working in Venice at this time was the young [[Hans Leo Hassler]], who studied with the Gabrielis; he brought the form back with him to Germany. It was in Germany where it underwent its highest development, culminating in the work of [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] more than a hundred years later.

===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.

===After the Baroque===
Beyond the Baroque period, toccatas are found less frequently. There are a few notable examples, however. From the [[Romantic music|Romantic period]], [[Robert Schumann]] and [[Franz Liszt]] each wrote a piano toccata. Schumann's ambitious [[Toccata (Schumann)|Toccata in C major]] is considered one of the most technically difficult works in the repertoire and the foremost representative of the genre in the 1800s. The Liszt toccata is a very short and austere composition from his late period, and is practically a toccata only by name. Smaller-scale toccatas are sometimes called "toccatina": Liszt's contemporary and well-known virtuoso in his day [[Charles-Valentin Alkan]] composed a brief toccatina as his last published work (Op. 75).

From the early [[20th-century classical music|20th century]], [[Sergei Prokofiev|Prokofiev]] and [[Aram Khachaturian]] each wrote a toccata for solo [[piano]], as did French composers [[Maurice Ravel]] as part of ''[[Le Tombeau de Couperin]]'', [[Jules Massenet]], [[Claude Debussy]] in his suite ''[[Pour le piano]]'' and also "[[Estampes|Jardins sous la pluie]]" (which is a toccata but not in name), [[Pierre Sancan]] and [[York Bowen]]'s Toccata Op. 155. [[Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji]] wrote four toccatas for solo piano,<ref>Roberge, Marc-André (25&nbsp;September 2012). [http://www.mus.ulaval.ca/roberge/srs/04-categ.htm "Titles of Works Grouped by Categories"]. ''Sorabji Resource Site''. Retrieved 25&nbsp;November 2012.</ref> while [[Moises Moleiro]] wrote two. [[George Enescu]]'s [[Piano Suite No. 2 (Enescu)|Piano Suite No. 2, Op. 10]], opens with a toccata. The first piece'', "Sévère réprimande''" (''Severe Reprimand''), of [[Erik Satie]]'s 1912 composition [[Veritables Preludes flasques (pour un chien)|''Veritables Preludes flasques'' (pour un chien)]] is a toccata. The British composer [[Peter Seabourne]] reverted to the earlier multi-sectional manner of Bach in his piano cycle called ''[[Steps_piano_cycle_series_(Seabourne)|Steps Volume 6: Toccatas and Fantasias]]'', his six examples being designed to be interpolated between the seven Bach [[Toccatas for Keyboard (Bach)|toccatas for harpsichord]] BWV 910-916. The same composer's earlier cycle ''Steps Volume 1: An anthology'' includes a toccata movement called ''A Touch'', with reference to the Italian verb ''toccare''.

The toccata form was of great importance in the French romantic organ school, something of which [[Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens]] laid the foundation with his ''Fanfare''. Toccatas of this style became vastly different from their predecessors. While early toccatas where improvisatory, French toccatas became more strictly metered.While the playing style changed, the Toccata continued to become more virtuosic. Toccatas in this style usually consist of rapid chord progressions combined with a powerful tune (often played in the pedal).The most famous examples are the ending movement of [[Charles-Marie Widor]]'s ''[[Symphony for Organ No. 5 (Widor)|Symphony No. 5]]'', and the Finale of [[Louis Vierne]]'s ''Symphony No. 1''.

Toccatas occasionally make appearances in works for full [[orchestra]]; a notable example is the final movement of the [[Symphony No. 8 (Vaughan Williams)|Eighth Symphony]] of [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]]. It could be said that the finales of [[Francis Poulenc]]'s [[Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra (Poulenc)|Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra]] and [[Maurice Ravel]]'s [[Piano Concerto in G (Ravel)|Piano Concerto]] are toccatas in all but name. The first movements of [[Benjamin Britten]]'s [[Piano Concerto (Britten)|Piano Concerto]] and [[Nikolai Medtner]]'s 2nd piano concerto are toccatas. The final movement of [[John Adams (composer)|John Adams]]' [[Violin Concerto (Adams)|Violin Concerto]] is entitled "Toccare," again referring to the origins of the word toccata; and the first movement (''Schnelle halbe'') of [[Paul Hindemith]]'s fifth [[Kammermusik (Hindemith)|''Kammermusik'']] (a viola concerto) is written as a toccata.<ref>Kammermusik No. 5, for viola and orchestra, Op. 36, No. 4. About. [[Classical Archives]]. [http://www.classicalarchives.com/work/76468.html#tvf=tracks&tv=about]</ref> Another contemporary composer who has written many toccatas is [[Emma Lou Diemer]]. In addition to several toccatas for organ, she has written three for piano (that of 1979 is frequently played), one for flute chorus, one for violin and piano, one for solo timpani and one for six mallet percussion. Both the finales of [[Samuel Barber]]'s violin concerto and piano concerto can be described as toccatas. The Argentinian composer [[Alberto Ginastera]] often utilizes toccatas or toccata-like forms as the finales of his works; notably in the Harp Concerto, Piano Concerto No.1, Violin Concerto, Guitar Sonata, and his Piano Sonatas. Russian [[jazz]] composer [[Nikolai Kapustin]] composed two toccatinas: one as part of his Eight Concert Etudes, Op. 40 and another, Opus 36. [[Evgeny Kissin]] wrote a jazz-inspired toccata as part of his ''Four Piano Pieces'', Op. 1.

==Literature==
[[Robert Browning]] used the motif or concept of a toccata by [[Baldassare Galuppi]] to evoke thoughts of human transience in his poem "[[A Toccata of Galuppi's]]" (although Galuppi did not actually write any piece with the name 'Toccata').<ref>{{cite news|title=Research regarding the fictional toccata by Galuppi of Browning's poem|work=[[The Musical Times]]|date=May 1, 1923|pages=314–316|author=Charles Van Den Borren}}</ref>

==References==
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==External links==
*[http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/297.html Robert Browning, "A Toccata of Galuppi's" published 1855] e-text

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[[Category:Toccatas| ]]
[[Category:Classical music styles]]