Storace's main interest in
Selva di varie compositioni is the
variation form. Particularly notable are the four
passacaglias, which contain, in total, 320 representations of the
descending tetrachord. Two of these works are split into several sections connected by
modulatory passages: "Passagagli sopra D sol re per ♯" contains four sections (D major, A major, E major, and B minor; a total of 91 variations) and "Passagagli sopra Fe fa ut per ♭" three (F minor, B-flat minor and E-flat major; a total of 72 variations). The single
chaconne included in the collection also comprises variations on a four-bar pattern. The rest of the variation sets tend to feature longer patterns, up to 24 bars in "Aria sopra la Spagnoletta". The theme of the latter piece is, curiously, not related to
Frescobaldi's
Spagnoletta; it is only found in a 16th-century
Florentine manuscript. Storace uses a transposed version of it and produces six variations with very brief connecting passages between them. A similar situation is observed in "Partita sopra il Cinque passi": there are fifteen variations on a six-bar theme, connected by brief transitions, and the theme is again not related to the more well-known "Cinquepassi" of
The Mulliner Book, or to
cinquepassi as explained by
Michael Praetorius in his writings. Storace's "Follia" uses the same theme as Frescobaldi's "Follia", but neither is related to the famous "
La Folía". Finally, Storace's variations on the "Passo e mezzo" include one on the
moderno variant of the theme and two on the
antico; all three sets are examples of mixed variations, for they include sections marked
gagliarda or
corrente, i.e., dances. Storace's two
toccatas are rather brief pieces, less complex harmonically than their Italian predecessors. The two
ricercars, on the other hand, are masterful works–the first (titled simply "Ricercar") is in fact a triple
fugue, the first theme of which is Frescobaldi's, from the famous "Ricercare con l'obbligo di cantare la quinta parte senza tocarla" from
Fiori musicali. The last piece of
Selva di varie compositioni is also its most intriguing: Storace's
Pastorale is a very long work consisting of numerous repeated figures, variations, etc., all over an incessant
pedal note. There are five sections arranged symmetrically:
prima parte and
seconda parte are followed by an
aria, which is followed by
terza parte and
quarta parte. ==List of works==