REBORN IN THE 20TH CENTURY: THE CHACONNE AND PASSACAGLIA THROUGHOUT VIOLIN LITERATURE

Abstract

In the late 16th century, the chacona was the most energetic and wild type of baile, a popular Spanish dance. It was a lively, suggestive, and festive peasant dance, which, by the early 17th century, had developed into a distinct variation form involving a repeated bass line or chord progression. This performance dissertation explores the symbolic significance of both the chaconne and the passacaglia in performance as well as in written form. The performance was a recital program which comprised the Bach Partita No. 2 for Solo Violin and the Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1, each featuring the chaconne and passacaglia respectively in their emotionally climactic movements. I performed the recital with pianist Hsiang-Ling Hsiao, on November 1, 2016, in the Gildenhorn Recital Hall. In this document, I explore how the chaconne in violin repertoire has changed over time by analyzing the repeating units, stylistic changes, and historical backgrounds. The paper is organized into two parts. Part I surveys the Baroque period chaconnes. The earlier, celebratory chaconnes include works by Monteverdi, Bertali, and Corelli. The elegant and courtly chaconnes include works by Schmelzer and Lully; the chaconnes representing fate include works by Biber, Purcell, and Bach. In the Classical and Romantic periods, the chaconne was discontinued, but it became revitalized again in the 20th century. Part II discusses 20th-century chaconnes and the impetus for its rebirth after a long hiatus. It surveys works written during the war periods by Ravel, Britten, and Shostakovich. These works seem to speak for the victims and express profound sorrow in ways words cannot. Lastly, the study explores the innovative works by two contemporary American composers, John Adams and John Corigliano, who infused the centuries-old form with modern musical language.