
This 256-measure chaconne takes a plaintive four- bar phrase through a continuous kaleidoscope of musical expression in both major and minor modes.

One of the best known and most masterful and expressive examples of the chaconne is the final movement from the Violin Partita in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach. Outstanding examples of early baroque chaconnes are Monteverdi's "Zefiro torna" and "Es steh Gott auf" by Heinrich Schütz. "Un sarao de la chacona" is one of the earliest known examples of a "chacona", written down by Spanish musician Juan Arañés.

The dance became popular both in the elite courts and in the general population. Though it originally emerged during the late sixteenth century in Spanish culture, having reputedly been introduced from the New World, as a quick dance-song characterized by suggestive movements and mocking texts, the chaconne by the early eighteenth century had evolved into a slow triple meter instrumental form.Īlex Ross describes the origins of the chacona as actually having been a sexily swirling dance that appeared in South America at the end of the sixteenth century and quickly spread to Europe.
