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Originally a slow Italian or Spanish dance in 3/4 time, the passacaglia later came to be a instrumental work in 3/4 based on a ground (that is, a melody which repeats unchangingly throughout while other lines are freely varied). The passacaglia is very closely related to the chaconne, except that in the chaconne, the repeating melody is always in the bass (that is, it is a ground bass).

A number of passacaglia themes became well known enough to merit their own names. Many Baroque composers wrote variations on La Follia, also known as la folia and la folie d'Espagne (the folly of Spain) a chord progression apparently based on a Spanish folk melody. Composers from Jean-Baptiste Lully and Arcangelo Corelli to Sergei RachmaninoffSergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff also Sergey Rachmaninov or Serge Rakhmaninov , ( April 1, 1873 March 28, 1943) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor. Born in Semyonovo, near Novgorod into a wealthy family with a strong military background, Rachman have used the La Follia theme. VangelisEvangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou better known as Vangelis ("Van" being pronounced to rhyme with the "an" in "angle" and not "angel" as the spelling might suggest) (born March 29, 1943) is a world-renowned new age and electronic musician. His best known c's film scoreA film score is the background music in a film, generally specially written for the film and often used to heighten emotions provoked by the imagery on the screen or by the dialogue. In many instances, film scores are performed by orchestras, which vary i to the motion picture 1492: The Conquest of Paradise used the La Follia theme.

One of the best known examples of a passacaglia in classical musicThis article is about the broad genre of classical music in the Western musical tradition. For the period of music in the 18th century see Classical music era, for articles on classical music of non-Western cultures, see: List of classical music tradition is the one in C minor for organThe organ is a type of keyboard musical instrument, distinctive because the sound is not produced by a percussion action, as on a piano or celesta, or by means of vibrating strings, as on the harpsichord. Instead, pipe organs produce sound by means of flo by Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach ( March 21, 1685 July 28, 1750) was a German composer and organist of the Baroque period, and is almost universally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. His works, noted for their intellectual depth, technical comma, BWV 582. A later example is the finale of Josef RheinbergerJosef Gabriel Rheinberger was born March 17, 1839, at Vaduz, Liechtenstein, and died Munich, November 25, 1901. When only seven years old he was organist at Vaduz Parish Church, and his first composition was performed the following year. In 1851 Rheinberg's 8th organ sonata. Perhaps the most frequently heard passacaglia, however, is the finale of Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 4 (although Brahms did not explicitly call it a passacaglia, it follows the rules of one and the repeated figure is based on one found in Bach's Cantata No. 150, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich).