A chaconne (; ; es, chacona, links=no; it, ciaccona, links=no, ; earlier English: ''chacony'') is a type of musical composition often used as a vehicle for
variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short repetitive bass-line (
ground bass
In music, an ostinato (; derived from Italian word for ''stubborn'', compare English ''obstinate'') is a motif or phrase that persistently repeats in the same musical voice, frequently in the same pitch. Well-known ostinato-based pieces include ...
) which offers a compositional outline for variation, decoration, figuration and melodic invention. In this it closely resembles the
passacaglia
The passacaglia (; ) is a musical form that originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is still used today by composers. It is usually of a serious character and is often based on a bass- ostinato and written in triple metre.
Origin
The t ...
. It originates and was particularly popular in the
Baroque era
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including th ...
; a large number of Chaconnes exist from the
17th- and
18th- centuries.
The ground bass, if there is one, may typically descend stepwise from the
tonic to the
dominant pitch of the
scale; the harmonies given to the upper parts may emphasize the
circle of fifths
In music theory, the circle of fifths is a way of organizing the 12 chromatic pitches as a sequence of perfect fifths. (This is strictly true in the standard 12-tone equal temperament system — using a different system requires one interval ...
or a derivative pattern thereof.
History
Though it originally emerged during the late sixteenth century in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
culture, having reputedly been introduced from the
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
, as a quick dance-song characterized by suggestive movements and mocking texts, the chaconne by the early eighteenth century had evolved into a slow