Ricercare No. 11 by Giovanni Maria da Crema

by Jeff Heatwole
(Spokane, WA)

Ricercare No. 11 from book one of his Intabolatura de Lauto is a quality example of how Maria takes a 3 part vocal work and adapts it to the lute while striving to preserve the vocal qualities found in the original. Each of the 3 parts have their own sections of predominance in the piece such as in the first four measures when the bass part protrudes from the texture mimicking the opening vocal melody 2 octaves below its original statement in the stretto style (a compositional technique in which an imitating line starts before its subject ends). This technique can be found in the vocal compositions of composers like Giovanni Palestrina and many other great composers of the time.