Music is a great way of self-expression, creativity, which is not given to everyone to do, but each of us probably wants to enjoy music. What does "toccata" mean and why this word is worth knowing even for music listeners, non-professional amateurs, you will find out by reading this article.
"Piano" vocabulary
Once upon a time, in the days of such composers as Mendelssohn, Lebussy and Schumann, the meaning of the word "toccata" meant any piece of music created for the piano, and indeed any keyboard instrument. A characteristic feature of toccata is the dynamism of music, the clarity of the play of sounds, short notes. For piano and organ music, classical toccata is of great importance. What is also important is the sequence of changing the toccata sounding either in the bass or in the treble clef. Toccata in many works sounds like a playful, light introduction, background to the main theme of a piece of music. Indicative of the sound is the original translation of the word toccata from Italian, which means"touch", "push".
Game technique
On the music sheet, toccata is indicated by dots above the notes, such notes are played intermittently, clear, but at the same time light "beats". At the same time, the hand should not be opened too high from the keys, because this slows down the dynamics of the game. When playing "toccata", you can not "get stuck" in the sound, it is important to maintain discontinuity. Often, orchestral toccata denotes beats, peals of wind and percussion (low percussion - like timpani) instruments.
It is very common to hear the orchestral performance of the toccata in modern operas and ballets, although this trend first appeared in the distant Renaissance.
The playfulness of the music
Toccata is perhaps the most playful form of a piece of music or part of it, you can hear it in parody lines and roll calls in operas, musical humoresques.
In terms of the nature of its sound, toccata can be compared with scherzo - the same mischievous and playful music that can instantly cheer you up and create a special atmosphere of a festive sur.
Serious genre
Once upon a time, the impetuous motives of the toccata, this impetuous and virtuoso music, were an introduction to music played at church ceremonies, mainly by the Catholic Church. The toccata opened the polyphonic choral works, foreshadowed the roll call of the most extensive range of heroes of the musical work.
Musical texture
Toccata is performed in a very clear technique, which not every musician can achieve. Of the great composers, Johann Sebastian Bach was also famous for his talent to intermittently, but at the same time with varying degrees of keystroke, to play a magnificent toccata in which every accent is in its place.
Toccata is a work that requires clarity of sound. Chords, high passages are all characteristic elements of the genre. Polyphonic motifs, as mentioned earlier, are a huge decoration of any toccata, especially when it comes to choral performance.
Etude and Toccata
At the time when such great etudist composers as Czerny and Schumann were creating, etude and toccata became very close in their stylistic coloring works. To this day, Czerny's etudes are used in conservatories and music schools in order to teach young musicians to use the entire palette of shades in music in order to develop finger fluency and technical performance.
Historical background
Finishing the conversation about what toccata is, it is impossible not to mention the historical stages of the formation of this music. Toccata originated in the late Renaissance in northern Italy. Musical works of the 1590s contained toccata elements.
The Baroque era in music is characterized by a special extravagance, from the Renaissance it left polyphony and contrapuncture. Fugue is the main musical form of this era. However, the "musicality" of the era is rapidlydecreased, the role of vocal performance increased.
Fugues, arias got their "golden time" in music. So, the Baroque toccata became much longer than the Renaissance toccata, but at the same time retained its dynamism and required a certain virtuosity from the performer.
The music of that time can only be compared with the architecture, which is just as unusual and abundant. Baroque toccata almost always gives the impression of pure improvisation, so complex were the works of this genre during the Baroque.
After the end of the baroque period, the toccata was less and less common in music. Composers of the subsequent era of Romanticism still turned to the stylistic form of the toccata, for example, the previously mentioned Schumann was very fond of the form of the toccata.
List is another performer of that period. He used the toccata as the leading stylistic detail in his famous w altzes.
Schumann's works are considered the most technically complex, while Liszt's toccata is always a short part of the composition, which gradually lost its true meaning in the work of this composer.
In the 20th century, Prokofiev also revived the fashion for this musical form, including it in some works, but also not for long.
Toccatas were written for organ for some time. Now young performers and composers hone their skills with this form. Toccata allows you to increase the pace of the game and create a playful musicalmood, without weighing down the semantic load of the work.
