- Giuseppe Gerbino
- and Richard Hudson
(1) A repeat or repetition in a general sense, including the repetition of an opera or play.
(2) The refrain of the 14th-century ballata and the poetic and musical forms that adopted the ballata scheme, such as the lauda (see Lauda) and the Frottola, §2. It is linked, both metrically and musically, to the last section of the strophe, the volta, and was originally repeated after each strophe. 14th-century theorists regarded the ripresa as the element that characterizes the ballata and distinguishes it from other poetic forms. Different types of ballata are defined by the number and length of the lines composing the ripresa (see Ballata).
The choreographic function of the ripresa is illustrated by Giovanni del Virgilio, a contemporary of Dante. In the third Eclogue of his Diaffonus (1315–16) he described the performance of a ballata sung and danced in a square in Bologna. The refrain (...