Why a passacaglia? I think the short answer is that I have always wanted to write one. After hearing the grand and majestic Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor by J.S. Bach I have always wanted to write one.
A passacaglia is a musical form from the baroque era that is a variation form over a repeated bass line. In my piece you can hear the bass line for the first 13 measures and it is then repeated over and over again changing slightly from time to time. Above the bass I develope the melodic line using a simple ABA’ form. The work is mostly ‘modal’ going from C Major to a natural minor back to C.
The inspiration for this Passacaglia is my son Maxwell. When I started writing it in August 2014 my wife was four-months pregnant and I finished it a month after she had given birth.
I would like to thank Paul for letting me borrow his Goudin, it add such a sweet sound to this work and to Ryan for letting me borrow his bass.
