Toccata

E270970

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

All labels observed (2)

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

How this entity was disambiguated

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

How these facts were elicited

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