Variation (music)

musical form

thumb|upright=1.4|Bernardo Storace, last bars of Passagagli sopra A la mi re and beginning of Passagagli sopra C sol fa ut, from Selva di varie compositioni (Venice, 1664) The passacaglia (; ) is a musical form that originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is still used today by composers. It is usually of a serious character and is typically based on a bass-ostinato and written in triple metre.

thumb|The "Ciaccona" from Johann Sebastian Bach's Partita for Violin No. 2 (Bach)|Partita for Violin No. 2

thumb|right|330px|Romanesca. . thumb|right|330px|Passamezzo and Romanesca melodic formula on D .