passacaglia

[ pah-suh-kahl-yuh, pas-uh-kal- ]

noun
  1. a slow, dignified dance of Spanish origin.

  2. the music for this dance, based on an ostinato figure.

  1. a musical form based on continuous variations over a ground bass.

Origin of passacaglia

1
1650–60; pseudo-Italian spelling of earlier passacalle<Spanish pasacalle literally, step (i.e., dance) in the street (pasa 3rd-person singular present of pasar to step, pace1 + calle street <Latin callem, accusative of callis path)

Words Nearby passacaglia

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How to use passacaglia in a sentence

  • Besides these there are the three great independent toccatas and the passacaglia.

  • Dance-measures, the passacaglia, even the jig, are not excluded; and a chorale has its counterpoint in a siciliano.

    Sebastian Bach | Reginald Lane Poole
  • These sonatas and the passacaglia were written for his young son, W. Friedemann, to practise on the pedal clavichord.

    Bach | Charles Francis Abdy Williams

British Dictionary definitions for passacaglia

passacaglia

/ (ˌpæsəˈkɑːljə) /


noun
  1. an old Spanish dance in slow triple time

  2. a slow instrumental piece characterized by a series of variations on a particular theme played over a repeated bass part: See also chaconne (def. 1)

Origin of passacaglia

1
C17: earlier passacalle, from Spanish pasacalle street dance, from paso step + calle street; the ending -alle was changed to -aglia to suggest an Italian origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012