Passacaglia

In music a passacaglia (French: passacaille, Spanish: passacalle or pasacalle) is a musical form and the corresponding court dance. Its name derives from the Spanish pasear (to walk) and calle (street), supposedly to denote the music played by wandering musicians.

Related Topics:
Music - French - Spanish - Musical form - Court dance

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Originally a slow Italian or Spanish dance in 3/4 time, the passacaglia later came to be an instrumental work in 3/4 based on a ground (that is, a melody which repeats unchangingly throughout while other lines are freely varied). The passacaglia is very closely related to the chaconne, except that in the chaconne, the repeating melody is always in the bass (that is, it is a ground bass).

Related Topics:
Italian - Spanish - Dance - Time - Melody - Chaconne - Ground bass

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A number of passacaglia themes became well known enough to merit their own names. Many Baroque composers wrote variations on La Follia, also known as la folia and la folie d'Espagne (the folly of Spain) a chord progression apparently based on a Spanish folk melody. Composers from Jean-Baptiste Lully and Arcangelo Corelli to Sergei Rachmaninoff and Vangelis (in his film score to the motion picture ') have used the La Follia theme, although not always composing a passacaglia based on it. Another exemple is the Passacaglia in D Minor by Christian Friedrich Witt (Germany, 1660-1716) for organ or clavier, often falsely attributed to J.S. Bach (BWV Anh. 182).

Related Topics:
Baroque - Jean-Baptiste Lully - Arcangelo Corelli - Sergei Rachmaninoff - Vangelis - Film score - Motion picture

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One of the best known examples of a passacaglia in western classical music is the one in C minor for organ by Johann Sebastian Bach, BWV 582. Another Baroque example is Dido's lament, "When I am Laid in Earth," in Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas; and a 19th century example is the finale of Josef Rheinberger's 8th organ sonata. Perhaps the most frequently heard passacaglia, however, is the finale of Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 4 (although Brahms did not explicitly call it a passacaglia, it follows the rules of one and the repeated figure is based on one found in Bach's Cantata No. 150, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich). Halvorsen also composed a passacaglia that is based on a Handel theme and written for a duet of violin and viola, considered among the most popular pieces for both instruments due to its simplicity and depth.

Related Topics:
Western classical music - Organ - Johann Sebastian Bach - BWV 582 - Purcell - Dido and Aeneas - 19th century - Josef Rheinberger - Sonata - Johannes Brahms - Symphony No. 4 - Cantata - Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich - Halvorsen

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The passacaglia proved an enduring form throughout the 20th century. Other examples of uses of the passacaglia form include the following.

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• Passacaglia Op. 1 (1908), by Anton Webern.
• The 10th variation of Ernö Dohnányi's Variations on a Nursery Theme, op. 25 (1914)
• Aaron Copland's Passacaglia (1922).
• Leopold Godowsky's Passacaglia (44 variations, cadenza and fugue on the opening of Schubert's Unfinished Symphony) (1927).
• Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji's Opus Clavicembalisticum (1929-30) contains a Passacaglia.
• The fourth movement of Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 8 (1943).
• "Dirge", from the Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, by Benjamin Britten (1943)
• The Passacaglia interlude from the opera Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten (1945), often performed separately.
• The final movement of Britten's String Quartet No. 2 (1945, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the death of Purcell).
• The third movement of Shostakovich's First Violin Concerto (1947-1948).
• Ronald Stevenson's Passacaglia on DSCH (1960-62).
• Benjamin Britten's Nocturnal after John Dowland for guitar (1963) concludes with a passacaglia followed by the Dowland theme.
• The central episode of the final movement of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 15 (1971).
• The last movement of Britten's String Quartet No. 3 (1975).
• The last movement of the Piano Concerto by Witold Lutosławski (1987-88).
• Passacaglia And Fugue by Don Ellis, from Don Ellis Live at Monterey, (1997).
• Wear Your Seatbelt by Cliff Martinez, from the movie Solaris (2002).
• Passacaglia by Bear McCreary, from the episode "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 1" of the Sci-fi Channel's original series Battlestar Galactica (2005).
 
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