Passacaglia
In
music a
passacaglia (
French:
passacaille,
Spanish:
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.
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).
Today, the term
passacaglia is often used to denote a piece (not even necessarily in 3/4 time) which has a fixed bass line (ground bass) or
chord progression (sometimes both) that is repeated consecutively throughout most or all of the piece. In this sense, it is little different from the (often alternative) name
chaconne. The ground bass or chord progression usually lasts 8 or 16
bars, and forms a complete
musical sentence.
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 1492: Conquest of Paradise) have used the
La Follia theme, although not always composing a passacaglia based on it. Another example 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).
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 examples are the passcaille from Lully's opera
Armide (1686) and 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 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.
The passacaglia proved an enduring form throughout the 20th century. Other examples of uses of the passacaglia form include the following.
* Passacaglia Op. 1 (1908), by
Anton Webern.
* The 10th variation of
Ernő 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)
*
Passacaglia, a short twelve-tone work for solo piano by
Walter Piston (1943)
* The third movement of
Dmitri Shostakovich's
Second Piano Trio (1944).
* 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).
Mystery of Time, Passacaglia for large orchestra by
Miloslav Kabeláč (1953-1957)
*
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).
* "Lento e ritmico" from "Oration", the cello concerto (1930) by
Frank Bridge (1879-1941)
* 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).
*
Sloth: Passacaglia/A Bud And A Slice, from Joe Jackson, Heaven and Hell (1997).
*
Wear Your Seatbelt by Cliff Martinez, from the movie
Solaris (2002).
*
Passacaglia and
The Shape of Things to Come by
Bear McCreary, from the episode "Kobol's Last Gleaming" of the Sci-fi Channel's original series
Battlestar Galactica (2005).
*
Allegro by
Bear McCreary, from the second season soundtrack of the Sci-fi Channel's original series
Battlestar Galactica (2006).
*
Passacalles by
Juan Bautista Jose Cabanilles.
*
La Folia
