Passacaglia
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A form of historical Spanish or Italian dance characterised by a serious nature, triple meter, and use of a ground bass. countable, uncountable
"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."
- 2 Any piece of classical music with similar characteristics. broadly, countable, uncountable
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"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."
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian passacaglia, from Spanish pasacalle, from pasar (“to pass”) + calle (“street”).
Related phrases
More for "passacaglia"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.