Richard Todd wrote:
>... Of course, if I'm not mistaken, New Groves says that no one is quite
>sure what the distinction between a passacaglia and a chaconne is. They
>should have asked my music teacher, I guess.
All of my theory teachers define the two thus.
A Chaconne is based on a recurring harmonic progression.
A Pasacaglia is based on a recurring bass line.
Kevin Sutton