Toccata - WB84401 | Partitions

A toccata is a rhapsodic form of instrumental music. Originally written for the organ, it is essentially a solo piece which was improvised. The name “toccata” indicates that it was conceived as a “touch piece” characterized by rhapsodic sections with sustained chords, scale passages, and broken figuration. The present toccata consists of three sections with tempos of slow, fast, and slow. The rhapsodic beginning and closing sections enclose a quick middle section, featuring French horns, which is based on a development of a tuneful fanfare motif. The subject is treated antiphonally and is varied continually through the addition of new counter-subjects and accompaniments. The movement concludes with a short, fast coda.

Girolamo Frescobaldi was originally credited as the composer of the Toccata. Musical scholars in the late 20th century began to question the existence of Romantic references within the Baroque setting of the piece. In 1982, it was discovered that Gaspar Cassadó (1897 - 1966), the son of Spanish composer Joaquin Cassadó and a student of Pablo Casals, had written the work in 1925 for cello and piano and had attributed it to Frescobaldi to promote the work. Attributing new works to established composers has occurred frequently in musical history. Gaspar Cassadó was an accomplished cellist. In addition to the Toccata, he wrote an oratorio, a cello concerto, a rhapsody, and several chamber works.

Girolamo Frescobaldi (Ferrara, Italy 1583 - Rome 1643) was the most eminent organist of the first half of the seventeenth century. When he was appointed organist at St. Peter's in Rome in 1603, 30,000 people were reported to have witnessed his first performance. Except for the period 1628-33, when he served as the court organist at Florence, Frescobaldi was the organist at St. Peter's from 1608 until his death in 1643.