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chaconne

American  
[sha-kawn, -kon, shah-, sha-kawn] / ʃæˈkɔn, -ˈkɒn, ʃɑ-, ʃaˈkɔn /

noun

  • chaconnes
    plural
  1. an ancient dance, probably of Spanish origin, in moderate triple meter.

  2. a musical form based on the continuous variation of a series of chords or of a ground bass.


chaconne British  
/ ʃakɔn, ʃəˈkɒn /

noun

  1. a musical form consisting of a set of continuous variations upon a ground bass See also passacaglia

  2. archaic a dance in slow triple time probably originating in Spain

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of chaconne

1675–85; < French < Spanish chacona


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The piece even evokes the Baroque form of the chaconne, in which variations are spun over a repeated harmonic sequence.

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 20, 2017

The second half was devoted to two suites by John Blow and three by his pupil Henry Purcell, each followed by a chaconne or a ground.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 15, 2017

Whole musical forms, such as the waltz or the chaconne, fall apart just as the dinner party does.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2016

The act two chaconne was superb in its control and grace, while some exquisite playing ushered us into Le Soleil's palace in act four.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 10, 2013

"A chaconne!" cried Gluck; "when did the Greeks ever dance a chaconne?"

From How to Listen to Music, 7th ed. Hints and Suggestions to Untaught Lovers of the Art by Henry Edward Krehbiel

More numerous than the budding sonata forms you might look for in nascent symphonic works were backward-looking pieces built on ground basses: chaconnes and a passacaglia.

From New York Times ● Jun. 18, 2013

Too many of the pieces are ground basses and chaconnes, but Pluhar's arrangements are stylishly varied.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 28, 2010

He, the troubled, nervous, modern man, wrote with fluency fugues and double fugues, chaconnes and passacaglie, concerti grossi and variations.

From Musical Portraits Interpretations of Twenty Modern Composers by Paul Rosenfeld

Claude Le Jeune wrote motets; the eighteenth-century masters wrote gavottes and rigadoons, forlanas and chaconnes, expressed themselves in courtly dances and other set and severe forms.

From Musical Portraits Interpretations of Twenty Modern Composers by Paul Rosenfeld

At the same time he made sarabandes, gavottes, minuets, chaconnes, passepieds, gigues, polonaises and rondos dance across the piano in quick succession; and his comments were as spirited as his playing.

From Edward MacDowell by Lawrence Gilman

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