passacaglia
[ pah-suh-kahl-yuh, pas-uh-kal- ]
/ ˌpɑ səˈkɑl yə, ˌpæs əˈkæl- /
noun
a slow, dignified dance of Spanish origin.
the music for this dance, based on an ostinato figure.
a musical form based on continuous variations over a ground bass.
Origin of passacaglia
1650–60; pseudo-Italian spelling of earlier
passacalle < Spanish
pasacalle literally, step (i.e., dance) in the street (
pasa 3rd singular present of
pasar to step,
pace1 +
calle street < Latin
callem, accusative of
callis path)
Words nearby passacaglia
pass-fail,
pass-through,
pass.,
passable,
passably,
passacaglia,
passade,
passado,
passage,
passage grave,
passage hawk
Example sentences from the Web for passacaglia
Besides these there are the three great independent toccatas and the Passacaglia.
These sonatas and the passacaglia were written for his young son, W. Friedemann, to practise on the pedal clavichord.
Bach |Charles Francis Abdy Williams
British Dictionary definitions for passacaglia
passacaglia
/ (ˌpæsəˈkɑːljə) /
noun
an old Spanish dance in slow triple time
a slow instrumental piece characterized by a series of variations on a particular theme played over a repeated bass part
See also chaconne (def. 1)
Word Origin for passacaglia
C17: earlier
passacalle, from Spanish
pasacalle street dance, from
paso step +
calle street; the ending
-alle was changed to
-aglia to suggest an Italian origin