To lift your spirits during isolation, we’ve put together a Spotify playlist featuring one of our favourite dance forms: the chaconne! This playlist will take you on a dance across Europe from the early-17th to 18th centuries. We love to start the day with a coffee and a chaconne!
Known by various names such as the ‘ciaccona’ in Italy, ‘chacona’ in Spain, and the ‘chacony’ in England, the chaconne (French) is one of the most iconic dance forms of the baroque era. With its origins in the New World, the chaconne first emerged in Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, where it was a fast and raunchy dance seen as too risqué in most courts, which of course only increased its popularity! Throughout the 17th century, the dance quickly became popular in Italy, England, and France, where it underwent a drastic change to a much slower, but still sensuous, courtly dance .
Musically, the chaconne is often built on a descending bass line in triple time. The chaconnes of the late-17th and early-18th century typically feature a modulation to the major or minor version of the home key which inevitably returns home to the original key.
Thank you to everyone who has supported us in the first week of our Australian Cultural Fund Boost campaign. We hope that we can play some chaconnes for you very soon!
Hannah and Nick