ABSTRACT
Composers of sonatas and concertos drew on topoi of seventeenth-century sacred music that were commonly heard and recognized as part of the Catholic liturgy. In this way, the church sonata itself evoked for its listeners the solemnity of the church and affects of devotion. The repertory of organ music from such sources is significant here, first, because it shows instrumental compositions that were specifically designated for liturgical use and, second, because we find among such pieces a number of movement types that match those from the sonata repertory. The specific connection between the ricercar cromatico and the church lies in its heavy representation among the instrumental pieces recommended for use during the Mass in seventeenth-century manuals for organists. The impact of churchly musical style in the sonata da chiesa is nowhere better demonstrated than in its fugal movements marked a cappella.
