A refined Baroque form, used in a piece for the pope’s death.
The Baroque chaconne form consists in adding successive variations above a repeated melody in the bass. Its most famous example in musical history is a movement from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita in D Minor. In his Ciaccona, Penderecki uses a descending four-note second progression as the basis for nine variations, the last of which is a funeral march. This short but moving composition, dedicated to the late pope, was incorporated into A Polish Requiem as the last section of the cycle. It was also transcribed many times for various chamber ensembles.