Knowra Passacaglia Passacaglia A musical form built around a recurring bass pattern or harmonic progression, often supporting variations above it. It developed from an early dance into a form used in instrumental and vocal music.
Ground bass : A recurring bass pattern that supports successive musical variations. The passacaglia’s repeating foundation is often a ground bass.
Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 : An organ work by Johann Sebastian Bach built around a recurring eight-bar bass theme and followed by a fugue. It is among the best-known demonstrations of passacaglia variation on a large scale.
Passacalle : A Spanish dance and musical pattern associated with repeated harmonic progressions and instrumental interludes. The passacaglia’s name and early history are closely linked to this Spanish tradition.
Theme and variations : A musical form in which a theme is followed by altered versions of that theme. Passacaglia is a specific variation design, typically anchored by repeating bass or harmony.
Variation (music) : A musical procedure that alters a theme while retaining recognizable features. Passacaglias commonly develop through successive transformations of their recurring material.
Passacaglia (Handel) : The final movement of George Frideric Handel’s Keyboard Suite in G minor, HWV 432, a set of variations over a repeating progression. Its memorable theme and later arrangements made it a widely recognized passacaglia.
Baroque music : The European musical era spanning roughly 1600 to 1750, marked by basso continuo, counterpoint, and tonal development. The passacaglia became a prominent variation form during the Baroque era.
Chaconne : A variation form traditionally built over a repeating harmonic pattern or bass. It is the closest neighboring form, though historical usage often overlaps with passacaglia.
Ostinato : A persistently repeated musical pattern, melodic or rhythmic, in one or more voices. An ostinato can supply the repeated pattern around which a passacaglia unfolds.
Passacaglia (Webern) : Anton Webern’s 1908 orchestral work, Op. 1, a set of variations on a twelve-note theme. It shows the form adapted to late-Romantic chromaticism and a modern orchestral language.
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