Chaconne in A Minor for Piano

A Chaconne is related to the Passacaglia. The Chaconne and Passacaglia were thought to have originated from Native American roots that were transported back to Spain and spread to Italy, France and other European countries where they assumed stately courtly dances or processionals. Both are written in ¾ (triple) meter. Both forms consist of a series of variations played over their respective ground bases While the Passacaglia commonly employs an 8 measure repetitious ground base on individual notes with emphasis on the first beat of the measure, a Chaconne is based on a repetitious chord progression serving as a “ground base” with emphasis on the second beat of the triple meter.

The present Chaconne consists of a chordal progression theme and 27 variations. The original theme consists of two four bar measures with the chordal progression I-ii4/2-V-I. The second beat of each measure receives the emphasis. Variation 5 is written in Dorian mode, Variations 15-21 are written in A Major and an abrupt “Schubert-like” chordal shift modulates directly back to A minor for the last variations. The final variation (#27) ends the piece with a deconstructed chordal structure with a series of suspensions.

The Chaconne was composed from 23 February 2013 through 13 July 2014. The Chaconne Op 23 served as the basis for development of the Chaconne for String Quartet Op. 31.