The ricercar was one of the more academic of the imitative polyphonic instrumental genres of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It was modeled after the vocal polyphony typical in sacred genres like the motet. Like many seventeenth century motets that preserved the old contrapuntal style of the sixteenth century, the ricercar was typically notated in the anachronistic "white note" style notation favoring longer note values which was standard in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. This ricercar is the fifth of six ricercares in the Libro di Cappricci e Ricercati which Froberger compiled some time around 1658. It is unclear exactly when the collection was put together, because the title page has been lost, but the collection is dedicated to Emperor Leopold I who did not take the throne until after his father's death in 1657. This ricercar is in five sections, each featuring the same primary subject which appears in each section with a different rhythm. In the fourth section Froberger introduces a countersubject, and in the fifth and final section Froberger plays with syncopated stretto imitation.

© Andrus Madsen, All Music Guide