A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Passacaglia

by William Barclay Squire

PASSACAGLIA, PASSACAGLIO, or PASSECAILLE, an early Italian or Spanish dance, similar in character to a Chaconne. The name (according to Littré) is derived from the Spanish pasar, to walk, and calle, a street, in which case a Passacaglia may mean a tune played in the streets by itinerant musicians. This derivation is confirmed by Walther's Lexicon, where the name is translated by 'Gassenhauer.' Other authorities have attempted to connect the word Passacaglia with gallo, a cock; thus Mendel translates it 'Hahnentrapp.' The original dance was performed by one or two dancers; it survived in France until the iSth century, and directions for dancing it may be found in Feuillet's 'Chorégraphie.' But the feature which, in common with the Chaconne, has elevated the Passacaglia above the majority of dance forms, is the construction of the music on a ground bass, generally consisting of a short theme of two, four, or eight bars. This form attracted the attention of the organ and harpsichord composers of the 17th and 18th centuries, with whom the construction of elaborate Passacaglias and Chaconnes became a favourite exercise for contrapuntal skill. It is somewhat difficult to ascertain in what the difference between these two dance forms consists. Matheson,^[1] a contemporary authority, distinguishes four points:—the Chaconne was slower and more stately than the Passacaglia; the former was always in a major key, the latter in a minor; Passacaglias were never sung; and Chaconnes were always on a ground-bass. The above distinction of keys is not borne out by the specimens that have come down to us, and the Passacaglia is, if anything, generally of a more solemn character than the Chaconne. The only material difference between the two seems to be that in the Chaconne the theme is kept invariably in the bass, while in the Passacaglia it was used in any part, often so disguised and embroidered amid ever varying contrapuntal devices as to become hardly recognisable. Among the most celebrated Passacaglias may be mentioned those by Buxtehude, Bach (Bach Gesellschaft, vol. xv.), Frescobaldi (Toccate d'Intavolatura, vol. i.), and Handel (Suite VII). The following less-known instance is from Sonata 4 of Handel's 'VII Sonatas or Trios.'

etc.

There are also in existence some curious 'Passagagli flebili,' by Salvatore Mazzella, in his 'Balli, Correnti, Gighe, Gavotte, Braude, e Gagliarde, con la misura giusta per ballare al stile Inglese' (Rome, 1689). [App. p.744 "Add that the form has recently been introduced into the symphonic structure, by Brahms, in whose Symphony in E minor, no. 4 (op. 98), the finale is an exceedingly elaborate passacaglia."]

[ W. B. S. ]

1. Vollkommener Kapellmeister, p. 233.