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Scan 107
Grove's Dictionary of music and musicians, 1927
20 lines. Read by computer on 5 September 2026. Printed page 71. See the scan on archive.org.
1somewhat difficult to ascertain in what the difference between these two dance forms consists. Mattheson,1 a contemporary authority, distinguishes four points: the chaconne was slower and more stately than the passacaglia; the former was always in a major key, the latter in a minor; passacaglias were never sung; and chaconnes were always on a ground bass. The above distinction of keys is not borne out by the specimens that have come down to us, and the passacaglia is, if anything, generally of a more solemn character than the chaconne. The only material difference between the two seems to be that in the chaconne the theme is kept invariably in the bass, while in the passacaglia it was used in any part, often so disguised and embroidered amid ever-varying contrapuntal devices as to become hardly recognisable. Among the most celebrated passacaglias may be mentioned those by Buxtehude, Bach (B.-G. vol. xv.), Couperin, Frescobaldi (Toccate d'intavolatura, vol. i.) and Handel (Suite VII. and the fourth sonata of 'VII Sonatas or Trios').
3There are also in existence some curious 'Passagagli flebili,' by Salvatore Mazzella, in his 'Balli, Correnti, Gighe, Gavotte, Brande, e Gagliarde, con la misura giusta per ballare al stile Inglese' (Rome, 1689). w. b. s.
5PASSAGE. The word 'passage' is used of music in the same general sense that it is used of literature, without any special implication of its position or relations in the formal construction of a work, but merely as a portion which can be identified through some characteristic trait or conterminous idea.
7Thus in modern writings on music such expressions as 'passage in first violins,' 'passage in strict counterpoint,' 'passage where the basses go gradually down through two octaves,' show that the amount or extent of music embraced by the term is purely arbitrary, and may amount to two bars or to two pages at the will of the person using the term, so long as the definition, epithet or description given with it sufficiently covers the space so as to make its identification easy and certain; short of this the word by itself conveys no meaning.
9It is, however, sometimes used in a special and not altogether commendatory sense, of runs and such portions of music as are meaningless except as opportunities for display of dexterity on the part of executants, which are therefore in fact and by implication nothing more than 'passages.' In this respect literature and language are fortunate in having long ago arrived at such a pitch of development that it is hardly possible to find a counterpart except in the byways of gushing sentimental poetry or after-dinner oratory. It is possible that the musical use of the term originated in the amount of attention and labour which executants have had, especially in former days, to apply to such portions of the works they undertook, and the common habit of speaking of practising 'passages,' growing by insensible degrees to imply practising what it is hardly worth the while of an intelligent audience to listen to, except for the sake of the technique. It is probable that this use of the word in its special sense, except for mere exercises, will become less frequent in proportion to the growth of public musical intelligence.
11C. H. H. P.
13PASSAGGIO, 'passage.' This word is used in two senses: (1) of the passing from one key to another—hence used for all modulations; (2) of bravura ornaments introduced, either in vocal or instrumental music, whether indicated by the composer or not, in order to show off the skill of the performer. Bach uses Passaggio for a 'flourish' at the beginning of the Prelude to the Suite in E minor (B.-G. xlv. p. 149). m.
15PASSAMEZZO (PASSEMEZZO), an old Italian dance which was probably a variety of the PAVAN. In England, where it was popular in Queen Elizabeth's time, it was sometimes known as the 'Passing Measures Pavan.'2 Tabourot in his Orchésographie says that when the pavan was played less solemnly and more quickly, it was called a 'Passemezzo.' Hawkins says that the name is derived from 'passer, to walk, and mezzo, middle or half,' and that the dance was a diminutive of the galliard; but both these statements are probably incorrect. Praetorius (Syntagma, iii. 24) says that as a galliard has five steps, and is therefore called a 'Cinquepas,' so a 'Passamezzo' has scarcely half as many steps as the latter, and is therefore called 'mezzo passo.' These derivations seem somewhat far-fetched, and it is probable that the name 'Passemezzo' (in which form it is found in the earliest authorities) is simply an abbreviation of 'Passo e mezzo,' i.e. a step and a half, which may have formed a distinctive feature of the old dance. Reismann (Geschichte der Musik, ii. 22) quotes a 'Pass e mezzo antico,' from Jacob Paix's 'Ein Schön Nutz Lautentabulaturbuch,' in which periods of eight bars can be distinguished. It is written with five variations and a 'ripresa.'
17Full directions for dancing the passamezzo may be found in Caroso da Sermoneta's curious works Il Ballarino (Venice, 1581) and Nobiltà di dame (ib. 1600), from which the following example is taken:
192 In a MS. volume of airs and dances by Strogers, Dowland and Reade, preserved in the Cambridge University Library, it is called 'Passmeasures Pavan.' See Twelfth Night, Act v. Sc. 1.
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