It is generally acknowledged as one of his most important works, and was possibly an influence on Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor (BWV 582), as well as Brahms' music.
Spitta's opinion was shared by Johannes Brahms (who mistakenly referred to the passacaglia as "Ciaccona"):[7] ...when I become acquainted with such a beautiful piece as the Ciaccona in D minor by Buxtehude, I can hardly resist sharing it with a publisher, simply for the purpose of creating joy for others.German author Hermann Hesse cited this piece in his 1919 novel Demian.
Werner Breig, writing the liner for Helmut Walcha's recording of the passacaglia in 1978, called it Buxtehude's most mature work, and the pinnacle of Buxtehude's music for organ: "The reason for this may lie in the fact that it makes the most exhaustive use of the potential of the polarity of strictness and freedom.
The basic theme heard unchanging in the pedal is contrasted with a complex of upper voices characterized by a positively overflowing wealth of invention."
The passacaglia appears during an interlude in the music video for South Korean group BTS's song Blood Sweat & Tears, in which lines of Hesse's Demian are read by member RM and member SUGA is seen playing the organ.