Chaconne/Passacaglia
“The act of hearing music was a matter of concern to guardians of public morality and social decorum in late-sixteenth- and early-seventeenth century Spain.” “ Music and some kinds of dance were censured because they awoke the "libidinous appetite" [el apetito lOndmoso], could lead to "venereal delights" [delectacidn venerea] and would leave the listeners in such a state that they might "let themselves be carried away into lascivious acts" [dejarse Uevar de un movimiento lascivo] […] the names of some pieces are cited repeatedly in the documents, especially the zarabanda, the chacona, and the jacara, and both chaconas and jacaras show up in lascivious, erotic contexts in the seventeenth-century theater”.
The forbidden bodily pleasures that the chaconne provoked and the potential social havoc that this could create, caused the church to ban the chaconne in 1615, for its “irredeemably infectious lasciviousness”. (McClary, 2012)
The chaconne was a strophic dance music style that was introduced to Europe and particularly Spain from the New World through the conquistadors of the 16th century. “The chacona originated in Latin America before 1600 and brought …show more content…
The chaconne in the French court gradually lost its plain, peasant, salacious traits and became “a pretext for intellectual exploration”. “When French harpsichordists such as Jean-Henry D’Anglebert started writing chaconnes for solo keyboard, they established an essentially new genre. First, they revised the repetitious quality of the old ciaccona. Instead of proceeding through consecutive iterations of the basic unit, the keyboard chaconne fused with the rondeau format. Although the rondeau refrain still clings to the harmonic patterning of the ciaccona […], it alternates with episodes that introduce other keys and that explore other musical options.” (McClary,