Chacony (Chaconne) in g minor

Composer: PURCELL, Henry
  • This is Purcell’s Chacony in G minor for strings, Z730, composed around 1678.1
  • Purcell composed most of his consort music (such as this) early in his career. His first court appointment was to be a composer for the royal string ensemble called The Twenty-Four Violins, created by Charles II in imitation of the French court’s Vingt-Quatre Violons du Roi, famous under the direction of Lully.2
  • It is unknown why Purcell called this work “Chacony,” as the French term “Chaconne” was not unknown in England at the time. He may have created this anglicized term himself.3

Sources

  1. Peter Holman and Robert Thompson, “Purcell, Henry (ii),” Grove Music Online, accessed December 26, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-6002278249.
  2. Ibid.
  3. Phillip Huscher, “Program Notes: Henry Purcell: Chacony in G Minor,” Chicago Symphony Orchestra, accessed December 26, 2019, https://cso.org/uploadedFiles/1_Tickets_and_Events/Program_Notes/ProgramNotes_Purcell_Chacony.pdf. 

Cut IDs

13516, 48309, 49239