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 [log in to unmask]