A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Ripieno

RIPIENO, 'supplementary.' The name given to the accompanying instruments in the orchestras, and especially in the orchestral concertos of the 17th and 18th centuries, which were only employed to fill in the harmonies and to support the solo or 'concertante' parts. [See Concertante, vol. i. p. 385b.]

[ J. A. F. M. ]