The passamezzo (plural: ''passamezzi'' or ''passamezzos'') is an Italian folk dance of the 16th and early 17th centuries. Many pieces named "passamezzo" follow one of two chord progressions that came to be named after the dance,

passamezzo antico The passamezzo antico is a ground bass or chord progression that was popular during the Italian Renaissance and known throughout Europe in the 16th century. van der Merwe, Peter. 1989. ''Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth- ...

and passamezzo moderno. The chord progression would be repeated numerous times in succession while the dance was being performed. According to Renaissance practices, the passamezzo dance is often followed by other dances in a triple time, such as the

saltarello The ''saltarello'' is a musical dance originally from Italy. The first mention of it is in Add MS 29987, a late-fourteenth- or early fifteenth-century manuscript of Tuscan origin, now in the British Library. It was usually played in a fast tr ...

, gagliarda or paduana.

Name

There are many variant spellings. In Italian or international usage, the name is also rendered as ''pass'e mez(z)o'', ''passo e mezzo'', and ''passomez(z)o''. In early English usage, the names frequently incorporated the word measure in a folk etymology, giving such renderings as ''passemeasure'', ''passingmeasure'', ''passy-measures'' or ''passemeasure(s) pavan'', particularly to designate the ''passamezzo antico'' progression. Passamezzi following the ''passamezzo moderno'' progression are designated "quadro pavan" or "quadran(t) pavan."

Influence

French printed collections of passamezzo antico settings emerged in the 1550’s, edited by Claude Gervaise for Attaingnant and Jean d’Estrée for du Chemin. Catherine de’ Medici’s fondness for dancing encouraged the Franco-Italian musical exchange, as well as to promote a French counterpart to the Florentine Intermedii.

Notes

External links

Passamezzos
at

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Renaissance dance Italian dances Dance forms in classical music {{dance-stub