Ripiano has several meanings in music. It can describe a musical instrument or be used to instruct musicians on how to play a passage. It usually indicates that all members of a group play the indicated passage when it appears on music notation. When the term ripieno is used to describe an organ, it refers to a pipe organ with a specific stop arrangement. It can also refer to a pyramid-shaped collection of organ pipes.
On an organ, the term “stop” can refer to two different things. It can refer to the mechanism that prevents air from flowing through the pipes of an organ, or it can refer to the entire group of pipes that make up a pipe organ’s sounding mechanism. The stop arrangement on a ripieno organ refers to the group of flue pipes on the organ. Pipes in a ripieno organ are arranged differently than pipes in other organs.
Ripieno organs were first produced in Italy in the 16th century. The lowest note on this type of organ is F, whereas other organs typically start on C. Flue stops, also known as reed stops, are more common than compound stops.
When the word ripieno appears in music, it means that all of the musicians in a group must play the part at the same time. This is an old musical term that has been largely replaced the term tutti. In a piece with soloists, a ripieno indicates that everyone except the soloists should play. The performing soloists are seated in a separate group from the rest of the orchestra and do not participate in the ripieno, or tutti, parts. In choir music, this term is also used.
When all of the musicians are supposed to play at the same time, the conductor usually gives hand signals to the entire group. Though the technique varies depending on the conductor’s style and flair, a ripieno part is usually indicated the conductor’s arms outstretched wide, as if to encompass the entire group, while his hands outline the music’s tempo. The conductor would narrow his arms and conduct in the direction of the active sections of the group to indicate that they were to play in that passage when the music focused on a specific group or soloist rather than the entire ensemble.