Toccata

E270970

Toccata is a virtuosic musical form, typically for keyboard instruments, characterized by fast-moving, improvisatory passages and dramatic display of technical skill.

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All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Toccata canonical 4
Toccata from Organ Symphony No. 5 1

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf keyboard composition
musical form
associatedWithComposer Aram Khachaturian
Claudio Merulo
Dieterich Buxtehude
surface form: Dietrich Buxtehude

Girolamo Frescobaldi
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
Johann Sebastian Bach
Robert Schumann
Sergei Prokofiev
developedInPeriod Baroque
surface form: Baroque era

Late Renaissance
surface form: late Renaissance
emphasizes dramatic effect
performer virtuosity
technical brilliance
etymologyFrom Italian word "toccare"
etymologyMeaning to touch
hasCharacteristic dramatic display of technical skill
fast-moving passages
improvisatory style
virtuosic
hasOriginLanguage Italian
hasPluralForm toccatas
hasTempo generally fast
historicallyAssociatedWith Italian keyboard school
North German organ school
notableExample Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
notableExampleComposer Johann Sebastian Bach
oftenCombinedWith fugue
oftenFeatures rhythmic freedom
virtuosic manual technique
virtuosic pedal technique
oftenIncludes arpeggiated figures
chordal figurations
contrasting sections
improvised-sounding sections
rapid scalar passages
popularInCountry Germany
Italy
typicallyWrittenFor harpsichord
keyboard instruments
organ
piano
usedInContext concert performance
liturgical organ music
recital showpiece
usedInGenre classical music

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Charles-Marie Widor notableWork Toccata
this entity surface form: Toccata from Organ Symphony No. 5