MUSC 132 Chapter Notes - Chapter 25: Passacaglia, Ostinato, Chaconne
Document Summary
Sectional variations have themes and variations that are harmonically closed. Continuous variations feature a continuous flow of musical ideas and. The repeated element - the basis for the variations - is usually a bass line or a chord progression, rather than a melody with accompaniment. Continuous variation themes are usually shorter than those of sectional variations, spanning two to eat measures. Though there may be a cadential harmonic progression at the end of those measures, the repetitions of the theme tend to be elided at the cadence to maintain continuous structure. There are two general types of continuous variation. In a ground bass or passacaglia, the bass line is repeated while the upper voies are varied. The variations may reharmonize the bass line and may include phrase lengths that differ fro, and overlap with, the statements of the ground bass. In a chaconne, the harmonic progression is repeated and varied.
