At the head of this composition stands the following motive, like a motto:
upon which, moreover, is based the entire Ricercata.
But this piece is in duple time, and this fifth part is in 3/1, the tempus perfectum of mensurable music, indicated by a circle.[17] Where could the entrances be effected? This the performer must decide for himself, for Frescobaldi never did anything to assist him in his decision; "intenda mi chi può, che m'intend' io" ("let him comprehend me who can, I understand myself"), he tells us. We find the same challenge at the beginning of one of his caprices, the tenth in the first book[18] (pp. 77-86).
This same volume contains a Ricercata upon the hexachord (pp. 1-14), remarkably developed, and exhibiting a determination suggestive of scholastic restraint; and a recercar with four subjects (p. 137).
In the Canzoni, grace and interest of movement particularly are revealed; in some pieces expressive themes of a chromatic character lend a certain sentimental charm, while others, for instance those of which mention has already been made, serve chiefly as examples of ingenuity and cleverness. But the Toccatas of Frescobaldi combine all these characteristics, sometimes contrasted with or dominated by, in addition, a stately dignity, an incomparable breadth. And, moreover, they were conceived expressly for the organ, in their more lofty character, and written upon the staff then in use for that instrument.[19] They display all its resources, within a legitimate compass, although limited by the ability of the executants and by the deficiencies of the Italian organ manufacture of the period; the performers being little accustomed to the use of the pedal, and the Italian manufacture less advanced than that of the Germans. In fact, little could be demanded of the organist beyond long-sustained pedal-notes; and never do these works indicate that organs with several manuals were at that time constructed in Italy.
While in the Toccatas[20] the themes are developed noticeably in what we may term sections or plans, these are strictly contrasts of movement rather than of intensity of sound.
Frescobaldi placed more confidence in the finger dexterity of his pupils than in their facility with the pedals. To the more apt ones among them were addressed these words: "Chi questa Bergamasca sonerà, non pocho imparerà," written at the beginning of his variations upon the popular melody of the "Bergamasca";[21] and, again, at the end of the ninth Toccata in the second book: "Non senza fatiga si giunge al fine."
As examples of another style must also be mentioned the Pastorale, or rather the Capriccio fatto sopra la Pastorale, the themes of which were borrowed later by Händel from the same popular source from which Frescobaldi obtained them; this caprice has a pedal part, which proves it to have been expressly designed for the organ.[22]