First off, in case anyone’s wondering: A Chaconne is a particular type of musical arrangement. Check Wikipedia. There’s also a particular famous one called “The Chaconne” by Bach, which I guess is the definitive one. I’m pretty sure it’s what the song is referencing. Also, later in the song when Dessa mentions “brie”, that’s a type of French cheese. That makes sense because “Chaconne” is actually the French spelling of “Ciaccona”.
I think the song is about a family member, possibly her grandfather or someone similar. A relative that she mostly knew by reputation, but wasn’t close with. Maybe a great-uncle? But there’s a line about how she resembles his wife, which would imply that they’re relatives. She’s also much younger.
Anyway, he was sickly as a child (as evidenced by the lines about nosebleeds and the nursemaid), and practiced with the violin and his "chaconne", since he was unable to do anything else.
He went to the "academy" (some sort of music school?) and became famous due to his skill on the violin. This was around the time that the narrator was born and was first getting to know this person (the line "first a darling, then a marvel, when we met I was still a young girl”).
I think the song’s expressing angry and pity at this person. For example, the line about how he was “vain and hard to take”. Also, I’m pretty sure the line “your love sleeps in a velvet case” is meant sardonically; his “love” isn’t a person but his violin. The verse about his wife shows that he didn’t really love her; I think the line about keeping her alive on brie is a metaphor — he neglected her and only paid her enough attention as was minimally required, since he’d rather by working on his chaconne. This seems to be supported by the line about how she won’t trust him “with the baby”, because he wouldn’t pay attention to it. He just sits in his room, focusing on his chaconne, his obsession.
First off, in case anyone’s wondering: A Chaconne is a particular type of musical arrangement. Check Wikipedia. There’s also a particular famous one called “The Chaconne” by Bach, which I guess is the definitive one. I’m pretty sure it’s what the song is referencing. Also, later in the song when Dessa mentions “brie”, that’s a type of French cheese. That makes sense because “Chaconne” is actually the French spelling of “Ciaccona”.
I think the song is about a family member, possibly her grandfather or someone similar. A relative that she mostly knew by reputation, but wasn’t close with. Maybe a great-uncle? But there’s a line about how she resembles his wife, which would imply that they’re relatives. She’s also much younger.
Anyway, he was sickly as a child (as evidenced by the lines about nosebleeds and the nursemaid), and practiced with the violin and his "chaconne", since he was unable to do anything else.
He went to the "academy" (some sort of music school?) and became famous due to his skill on the violin. This was around the time that the narrator was born and was first getting to know this person (the line "first a darling, then a marvel, when we met I was still a young girl”).
I think the song’s expressing angry and pity at this person. For example, the line about how he was “vain and hard to take”. Also, I’m pretty sure the line “your love sleeps in a velvet case” is meant sardonically; his “love” isn’t a person but his violin. The verse about his wife shows that he didn’t really love her; I think the line about keeping her alive on brie is a metaphor — he neglected her and only paid her enough attention as was minimally required, since he’d rather by working on his chaconne. This seems to be supported by the line about how she won’t trust him “with the baby”, because he wouldn’t pay attention to it. He just sits in his room, focusing on his chaconne, his obsession.