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Date: | Sun, 8 Aug 1999 12:42:43 -0500 |
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Chaconne, a French word, as it was originally used as a musical term
meant either a theme and variations with a repeated series of chords or
a repeated melodic line, I believe. Today, technically, a chaconne refers
to a repeated chord series and a passacaglia refers to a melodic figure
that moves from part to part. A sort of basso ostinato not confined to the
bass. There is a lot of confusion about this distinction, even among fine
scholars and composers, and often they are used interchangably. Holst's
"Chaconne" in his E flat suite for military band is, by the definition I
just gave, a passacaglia. So, to answer your question, Brahm's 4th, 4th
mvmt. is a passacaglia, right? But I wouldn't fuss over the semantics too
much.
Kyle Major
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