Dictionary

passacaglia en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌpasəˈkɑːlɪ.ə/ (UK)
• /ˌpɑsəˈkɑljə/ (US)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian passacaglia, from Spanish pasacalle, from pasar (“to pass”) + calle (“street”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A form of historical Spanish or Italian dance characterised by a serious nature, triple meter, and use of a ground bass.
   • In classical music there are, as the analytical programs tell us, first subjects and second subjects, free fantasias, recapitulations, and codas; there are fugues, with counter-subjects, strettos, and pedal points; there are passacaglias on ground basses, canons ad hypodiapente, and other ingenuities, which have, after all, stood or fallen by their prettiness as much as the simplest folk-tune. 1902 [1898], [George] Bernard Shaw, The Perfect Wagnerite […] , second edition, London: Grant Richards, page 3:
2. (broadly, countable, uncountable) Any piece of classical music with similar characteristics.

Forms

Coordinates

chaconne

Translations (21)

fi passacaglia (historical Spanish dance) · ro passacaglia (historical Spanish dance) · ru пассака́лья (historical Spanish dance) · uk пасака́лія (historical Spanish dance) · hy պասսակալիա (historical Spanish dance) · lv pasakalja (historical Spanish dance) · tl pasakalye (historical Spanish dance) · eo pasakaljo (historical Spanish dance) · cmn 帕薩卡利亞 /帕萨卡利亚 (historical Spanish dance) · ca cercavila (historical Spanish dance) · ko 파사칼리아 (historical Spanish dance) · ja パッサカリア (historical Spanish dance) · it passacaglia (historical Spanish dance) · ru пассака́лия (historical Spanish dance) · el πασσακάλια (historical Spanish dance) · es pasacalles (historical Spanish dance) · es pasacalle (historical Spanish dance) · de Passacaglia (historical Spanish dance) · fr passacaille (historical Spanish dance) · cmn 帕薩卡里亞 /帕萨卡里亚 (historical Spanish dance) · uz passakalya (historical Spanish dance)