Explained: The Passacaglia by Handel/Halvorsen - OKTAV

#Passacaglia is a vivid example of how a modest street song, once used in Spain to bid farewell to guests, became the foundation of an entire Baroque musical style. Its defining feature is a recurring bass line, onto which new harmonies and melodic variations are layered. Each cycle retains the energy of its folk roots, which carried over into the resonant halls of the Baroque era. One of the most famous examples is Johann Sebastian Bach’s Passacaglia, where a single simple theme unfolds into a