The ripieno (, Italian for "stuffing" or "padding") is the bulk of instrumental parts of a

musical ensemble A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists ...

who do not play as soloists, especially in

Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transit ...

. These are the players who would play in sections marked ''

tutti ''Tutti'' is an Italian word literally meaning ''all'' or ''together'' and is used as a musical term, for the whole orchestra as opposed to the soloist. It is applied similarly to choral music, where the whole section or choir is called to sing. ...

'', as opposed to soloist sections. It is most commonly used in reference to instrumental music, although it can also be used in choral music. An individual member of the ripieno is called a ripienista. In the concerto grosso, it refers to the larger of the two ensembles as opposed to the group of soloists called the ''concertino''.''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 2nd Ed. (2001) In a ripieno concerto, there is no dominant soloist, so it resembles an early symphony. It can also refer to the main body of orchestra in early orchestral music, although this use is today often disregarded. In band music, the term (or its variant spellings ''repiano'' and ''ripiano'') is used similarly to designate the players not at the leading desk, especially the clarinet and cornet players in

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the ti ...

s. The expression ''senza ripieni'' is an instruction to play without the ripienistas; this instruction is frequently found in works by

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

. The term can also be used to designate a pipe organ mixture stop. Furthermore, the term can be used to refer to a fruit sorbet stuffed into its own shell such as limone ripieno. The similar term in French is ''givré''.

References

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