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passacaglia

 - 4 dictionary results

pas⋅sa⋅ca⋅glia

  [pah-suh-kahl-yuh, pas-uh-kal-]
Use passacaglia in a Sentence
–noun
1. a slow, dignified dance of Spanish origin.
2. the music for this dance, based on an ostinato figure.
3. a musical form based on continuous variations over a ground bass.
Origin:
1650–60; pseudo-It sp. of earlier passacalle < Sp pasacalle lit., step (i.e., dance) in the street (pasa 3d sing. pres. of pasar to step, pace 1 + calle street < L callem, acc. of callis path)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pas·sa·ca·glia   (pä'sə-käl'yə, pās'ə-kāl'yə)   
n.  

  1. A musical form of the 17th and 18th centuries consisting of continuous variations on a ground bass and similar to the chaconne.

  2. A dance of the period that was performed to such music.


[Italian, From Spanish pasacalle : pasar, to pass, step; see pase + calle, street (from Latin callis, call-, path).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

passacaglia 
"dance tune of Sp. origin," 1659, from It., from Sp. pasacalle, from pasar "to pass" + calle "street." So called because they often were played in the streets.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

passacaglia

(Italian, from Spanish passacalle, or pasacalle: "street song"), musical form of continuous variation in 34 time; and a courtly dance. The dance, as it first appeared in 17th-century Spain, was of unsavoury reputation and possibly quite fiery. In the French theatre of the 17th and 18th centuries it was a dance of imposing majesty. Little is known of the actual dance movements and steps. Musically the passacaglia is nearly indistinguishable from the contemporary chaconne; contemporary writers called the passacaglia a graver dance, however, and noted that it was identified more frequently with male dancers.

Learn more about passacaglia with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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