Dictionary of Music - Birding America

passamezzo 301The term was first used about 1600, mainly by Italiancomposers of keyboard music, such as Frescobaldiand others. 2 Later, another name for suite(see SUITE, def. 1). This meaning, which began to beused about 1700, mainly in works by German composers,is the one most current today, largelybecause the best-known partitas are suites by Bach(six partitas for harpsichord in his Clavierübung,Book 1; three partitas for solo violin).part music Any music with more than one voicepart,either homophonic or polyphonic (see PART,def. 2; HOMOPHONY; POLYPHONY). However somewriters use it only for polyphony, in which thevoice-parts are of more or less equal importance.(See also PART SONG.)part scoreSee under SCORE.part song 1 Any song with more than one voicepart.2 A song in which one voice-part (nearlyalways the highest) carries the melody and the otherparts provide an accompaniment in the form ofchords. This type of song, which is better describedas homophonic (see HOMOPHONY), is distinguishedfrom a song in which all the voice-parts are more orless equal in importance, such as a madrigal (seePOLYPHONY).part writingSee VOICE-LEADING.passacaglia (pä′′ sä käl′yä) Italian. Also, French,passacaille (pAs′′ A kī′y ə ), passecaille (pAs kī′). Adance form used in the suites of the seventeenth andeighteenth centuries (see SUITE, def. 1) that is almostimpossible to distinguish from another dance formso used, the CHACONNE. Like the chaconne, the passacagliais moderately slow and stately, and usuallyin triple meter (any meter in which there are threebasic beats in a measure, such as 3/4 or 3/8). Germancomposers always made the passacaglia a set ofvariations over a basso ostinato, a theme in the bassthat is repeated over and over with little or nochange. The most famous example of this type isBach’s Passacaglia in C minor for organ. Frenchcomposers, notably François Couperin, did notalways use the theme in the bass, nor did they repeatit without interruption. More commonly they alternatedthe theme with a series of short passages ofequal length, so that the theme became a kind offixed “refrain” for different “stanzas.”passacailleAny short section of a musical compo-passagesition.See PASSACAGLIA.passage work A musical passage consisting ofrapid figures (other than scales), whose performancerequires considerable technical skill. (See also RUN.)passaggio (pä sä′djô) Italian. The portion of thesinging voice where it changes from one REGISTER(def. 3) to another. The term is most often used forthe transition from middle voice to head voice.passamezzo (pä′′sä me′tsô) pl. passamezzi(pä′′sä me′tsē) Italian. A dance popular in Italyduring the sixteenth century. In duple meter (anymeter in which there are two basic beats per measure,such as 2/2 or 2/4), it is very similar to thePAVANE but is in faster tempo. Also like the pavane,it was often paired with a lively dance, such as thesaltarello or galliard. Many passamezzi, like otherdances of this period, are based on a particular harmonicpattern (pattern of chords related in a particularway, such as tonic–subdominant–dominant, orI–IV–V; see SCALE DEGREES for an explanation),which is repeated over and over in the bass. For thepassamezzo, two harmonic patterns were so used.Frequently they appeared as a basis for variations(by William Byrd in compositions for virginal, forexample), the same bass being used over and overto unify a melody and variations in the top parts.The two patterns, one called passamezzo antico(old passamezzo) and the other passamezzo moderno(modern passamezzo), are shown in the illustrationon page 302. Note the shape of the notes: allbut those in the next-to-last measure are longae(plural of longa), each of which is equivalent tofour whole notes. The other two are breves, each ofwhich is equal to two whole notes. These long-heldnotes in the bass made it easy for composers to constructa variety of melodies in the upper parts, as