Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

The Development of the Passacaglia for Organ through German and South African Composers

Since the 19th century, the passacaglia has been associated with a musical form that includes a set of ground-bass or ostinato variations, however, its beginnings can be traced back to Spain in the early 17th century where it was termed pasacalle. The meaning of the term pasacalle (later passacaglia...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Adams, Mikyle
Other Authors: Sandmeier, Rebekka
Format: Thesis
Language:English
English
Published: College of Music 2026
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Since the 19th century, the passacaglia has been associated with a musical form that includes a set of ground-bass or ostinato variations, however, its beginnings can be traced back to Spain in the early 17th century where it was termed pasacalle. The meaning of the term pasacalle (later passacaglia) is a combination of two Spanish words, pasar which translates as ‘to pass' and calle, which translates as ‘street'. When it emerged in France and Italy, the term initially alluded to the ritornellos improvised between songs. It is in Italy that the term passacaglia was established, initially as passacaglio which, at the time, referred to a single statement of a chord scheme and passacagli, the plural of it which referred to a succession or collection of multiple statements. However, these terms, including the feminine term passacaglia, and its other spelling variations, were utilised with minimal distinction throughout the century