Passacaglia - Handel/Halvorsen | Remix/Rework

Brief Background Info

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) was a Baroque composer who was known for his operas, oratorios, cantanas, organ concerti’s, and more. In 1720, he wrote Eight Great Suites, comprised of various movements such as an overture, sarabande, and gigue. The last movement of the harpsichord suite, named Suite No. 7 in G minor, is a passacaille or passacaglia, a piece that has multiple variations over a repeating bass. Later on, composer, conductor, and violinist Johan Halvorsen used Handel’s theme from this passacaglia, re-arranged them with his own personal flair and arranged it for violin and viola instead of the iconic harpsichord that Handel used. More recently, many have composed their own versions of Handel/Halvorsen’s Passacaglia including a variation such as the original reference in my video (composed by Pianistos, covered by Kassia) and more.

Why I Chose It

It was an easy choice, really. In 2020 (yes, during the pandemic), I saw Kassia’s and many others’ interpretations of this piece and simply thought it was beautiful. It’s low technicality and easy barrier to entry had me sitting at the piano the next day and learning it within the hour.

The rework came months later. I was looking into learning how to make music digitally and had a friend teach me about a popular DAW they were using called Ableton. Later on, I did my own research into Ableton and learned about its unique feature, Session View. It was the most comprehensible feature for me, much more than the traditional arrangement view, and decided to get my feet wet. Not quite knowing where to start, I began playing Pianoistos’ version of the aforementioned passacaglia, and heard an arrangement in my head. What you hear is me trying to capture that essence.

Uploading It To YouTube

When I began my YouTube channel, it was mainly to post covers of songs or pieces whenever I felt the urge to do so. I had planned to upload many more, but life got in the way and I ended up forgetting about the channel’s existence.

While in university, I took a class that had something to do with creativity. An assignment we had was to create something, but what that something was I don’t remember. Out of sheer laziness, I submitted the piece I had already made years prior. To make up for my lack of effort, I edited the video to include how I made it, found some videos of people dancing and speed ramped it to fit the speed of the song. For accessibility purposes, I posted it on YouTube.

The rest, as they say, is history!