Folia
Encyclopedia
La Folia is one of the oldest remembered European musical themes
, or primary material, generally melodic
, of a composition
, on record. The theme exists in two versions, referred to as early and late folias, the earlier being faster.
tune with the name "Folía" in the Canary Islands
.
In western-classical music
there is an 'early Folia', which can take different shapes, and the better-known 'later Folia', which has been famous in serious music to the present day. This 'later Folia' is a standard chord progression
(i-V-i-VII / III-VII-[i or VI]-V / i-V-i-VII / III-VII-[i or VI7]-V[4-3sus]-i) with a standard melody line in the theme. It is said that Jean-Baptiste Lully
was the first composer to introduce the chord progression with the melody line. This "Folia" can be considered as a structure to improvise on, as the 12-bar blues scheme with the flattened third in the melody line became famous in the 20th century. The melody line shows a remarkable similarity with the use in jazz nowadays. It is the introduction and the end of the variations
to embrace the variations itself.
Characteristic of that 'later Folia' (also known as "Follia" with double l in Italy
, or "Folies d'Espagne" in France
, "Faronel's Ground" in England
) is that it is based upon a ground bass (passacaglia
) while the melody line takes the shape of a slow sarabande
in 3/4 meter. In the variations all sorts of meters and melody lines are accepted.
the key that is most often used for the 'later Folia'; one chord per bar except for bar 15.
The basic 16-bar chord progression:
in Portugal, including works by Gil Vicente
, mention the folia as a dance performed by shepherds or peasants. The Portuguese origin is recorded in the 1577 treatise De musica libri septem by Francisco de Salinas
.
Jean-Baptiste Lully
, in collaboration with Philidor in 1672, Arcangelo Corelli
in 1700, Alessandro Scarlatti
in 1710, Antonio Vivaldi
in his Opus 1 No 12
of 1705, Francesco Geminiani
in his Concerto Grosso Number 12, George Frederick Handel in the Sarabande of his Keyboard Suite in D minor HWV 437 of 1727, and Johann Sebastian Bach
in his Peasants' Cantata
of 1742 are considered to highlight this 'later' folia repeating theme in a brilliant way. Antonio Salieri
's 26 variations, produced late in his career, are among his finest works.
In the 19th century, Franz Liszt
include a version of the Folia
in his Rhapsodie Espagnole
, and Ludwig van Beethoven
quoted it briefly in the second movement of his Fifth Symphony
.
La Folia once again regained composers' interest during the 1930s with Sergei Rachmaninov
in his Variations on a theme by Corelli
in 1931 and Manuel María Ponce
and his Variations on "Spanish Folia" and Fugue for guitar.
Actually, the folia framework, (i)-V-i-VII-III-VII-i-V-(i), appeared in musical sources almost a century before the first documented piece called "folia". It emerged between the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century in vocal repertory found both in Italian (“Canzoniere di Montecassino”, “Canzoniere di Perugia”, and in the frottola repertory) and Spanish sources (mainly in the “Cancionero Musical de Palacio”, and, some years later, in the ensaladas repertory). Even though the folía framework appeared almost at the same time in different countries with numerous variants that share similar structural features, it is not possible to establish in which country the framework originated. Anyway, recent researches suggest the origin of the folia framework lies in the application of a specific compositional and improvisational method to simple melodies in minor mode. Thus, it was not a specific theme or a fixed sequence of chords what was disseminated throughout Europe at the end of 15th century, but a compositional-improvisational process which could generate these sequences of chords.
The folia melody has also influenced Scandinavian folk music. It is said that around half of the old Swedish tunes are based on la folia. It is possible to recognize a common structure in many Swedish folk tunes, and it is similar to the folia structure. Old folk tunes (19th century or older) which do not have this structure often come from parts of Sweden with little influences from upper classes or other countries.
Theme (music)
In music, a theme is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a composition is based.-Characteristics:A theme may be perceivable as a complete musical expression in itself, separate from the work in which it is found . In contrast to an idea or motif, a theme is...
, or primary material, generally melodic
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
, of a composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
, on record. The theme exists in two versions, referred to as early and late folias, the earlier being faster.
History
The epithet 'Folia' has several meanings in music. There is for instance a folkFolk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
tune with the name "Folía" in the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
.
In western-classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
there is an 'early Folia', which can take different shapes, and the better-known 'later Folia', which has been famous in serious music to the present day. This 'later Folia' is a standard chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
(i-V-i-VII / III-VII-[i or VI]-V / i-V-i-VII / III-VII-[i or VI7]-V[4-3sus]-i) with a standard melody line in the theme. It is said that Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste de Lully was an Italian-born French composer who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He is considered the chief master of the French Baroque style. Lully disavowed any Italian influence in French music of the period. He became a French subject in...
was the first composer to introduce the chord progression with the melody line. This "Folia" can be considered as a structure to improvise on, as the 12-bar blues scheme with the flattened third in the melody line became famous in the 20th century. The melody line shows a remarkable similarity with the use in jazz nowadays. It is the introduction and the end of the variations
Variation (music)
In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these.-Variation form:...
to embrace the variations itself.
Characteristic of that 'later Folia' (also known as "Follia" with double l in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, or "Folies d'Espagne" in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, "Faronel's Ground" in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) is that it is based upon a ground bass (passacaglia
Passacaglia
The passacaglia is a musical form that originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is still used by contemporary composers. It is usually of a serious character and is often, but not always, based on a bass-ostinato and written in triple metre....
) while the melody line takes the shape of a slow sarabande
Sarabande
In music, the sarabande is a dance in triple metre. The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of quarter notes and eighth notes in alternation...
in 3/4 meter. In the variations all sorts of meters and melody lines are accepted.
Structure
The framework of the 'Later Folia', in the key of D minor,the key that is most often used for the 'later Folia'; one chord per bar except for bar 15.
The basic 16-bar chord progression:
| Dm | A7 | Dm | C | F | C | Dm | A7 |
| Dm | A7 | Dm | C | F | C | Dm A7 | Dm |
Historical significance
Over the course of three centuries, more than 150 composers have used it in their works. The first publications of this theme date from the middle of the 17th century, but it is probably much older. Plays of the renaissance theatreRenaissance theatre
For Renaissance theatre see*Its section in the History of Theatre*English Renaissance theatre*French Renaissance theatre*German Renaissance theatre*Italian Renaissance theatre*Spanish Renaissance theatre*Renaissance TragedyFor place name see...
in Portugal, including works by Gil Vicente
Gil Vicente
Gil Vicente , called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus,"[3] often referred to as the "Father of Portuguese drama" and as one of Western literature's...
, mention the folia as a dance performed by shepherds or peasants. The Portuguese origin is recorded in the 1577 treatise De musica libri septem by Francisco de Salinas
Francisco de Salinas
Francisco de Salinas was a Spanish music theorist and organist, noted as among the first to describe meantone temperament in mathematically precise terms, and one of the first to describe, in effect, 19 equal temperament. In his De musica libri septem of 1577 he discusses 1/3-, 1/4- and 2/7-comma...
.
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste de Lully was an Italian-born French composer who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He is considered the chief master of the French Baroque style. Lully disavowed any Italian influence in French music of the period. He became a French subject in...
, in collaboration with Philidor in 1672, Arcangelo Corelli
Arcangelo Corelli
Arcangelo Corelli was an Italian violinist and composer of Baroque music.-Biography:Corelli was born at Fusignano, in the current-day province of Ravenna, although at the time it was in the province of Ferrara. Little is known about his early life...
in 1700, Alessandro Scarlatti
Alessandro Scarlatti
Alessandro Scarlatti was an Italian Baroque composer especially famous for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the founder of the Neapolitan school of opera. He was the father of two other composers, Domenico Scarlatti and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti.-Life:Scarlatti was born in...
in 1710, Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...
in his Opus 1 No 12
Twelve Trio Sonatas, Op. 1 (Vivaldi)
Antonio Vivaldi wrote a set of sonatas, Op. 1, in 1705.*Sonata No. 1 in G minor, RV 73*Sonata No. 2 in E minor, RV 67*Sonata No. 3 in C Major, RV 61*Sonata No. 4 in E Major, RV 66*Sonata No. 5 in F Major, RV 69...
of 1705, Francesco Geminiani
Francesco Geminiani
thumb|230px|Francesco Geminiani.Francesco Saverio Geminiani was an Italian violinist, composer, and music theorist.-Biography:...
in his Concerto Grosso Number 12, George Frederick Handel in the Sarabande of his Keyboard Suite in D minor HWV 437 of 1727, and Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
in his Peasants' Cantata
Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet, BWV 212
Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet , BWV 212, is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was entitled the "Cantate burlesque" by Bach himself, but is now popularly known as the Peasant Cantata...
of 1742 are considered to highlight this 'later' folia repeating theme in a brilliant way. Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri was a Venetian classical composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, but who spent his adult life and career as a faithful subject of the Habsburg monarchy....
's 26 variations, produced late in his career, are among his finest works.
In the 19th century, Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
include a version of the Folia
in his Rhapsodie Espagnole
Rhapsodie espagnole (Liszt)
Rhapsodie espagnole , S.254, R.90, is a composition for solo piano composed by Franz Liszt in 1863. The piece is very suggestive of traditional Spanish music, and was inspired by Liszt's tour in Spain and Portugal in 1845. When played, this piece takes roughly 11-14 Minutes and contains many...
, and Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
quoted it briefly in the second movement of his Fifth Symphony
Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1804–08. This symphony is one of the most popular and best-known compositions in all of classical music, and one of the most often played symphonies. It comprises four movements: an opening sonata, an andante, and a fast...
.
La Folia once again regained composers' interest during the 1930s with Sergei Rachmaninov
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
in his Variations on a theme by Corelli
Variations on a Theme of Corelli (Rachmaninoff)
Variations on a Theme of Corelli , Op. 42, is a group of 20 variations on Arcangelo Corelli's Sonata for violin, violone, and harpsichord , composed by Russian Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1931. Corelli's work was itself a set of variations on the Folia theme, which was popularly used as the basis for...
in 1931 and Manuel María Ponce
Manuel Maria Ponce
Manuel María Ponce Cuéllar was a Mexican composer active in the 20th century. His work as a composer, music educator and scholar of Mexican music connected the concert scene with a usually forgotten tradition of popular song and Mexican folklore...
and his Variations on "Spanish Folia" and Fugue for guitar.
Actually, the folia framework, (i)-V-i-VII-III-VII-i-V-(i), appeared in musical sources almost a century before the first documented piece called "folia". It emerged between the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century in vocal repertory found both in Italian (“Canzoniere di Montecassino”, “Canzoniere di Perugia”, and in the frottola repertory) and Spanish sources (mainly in the “Cancionero Musical de Palacio”, and, some years later, in the ensaladas repertory). Even though the folía framework appeared almost at the same time in different countries with numerous variants that share similar structural features, it is not possible to establish in which country the framework originated. Anyway, recent researches suggest the origin of the folia framework lies in the application of a specific compositional and improvisational method to simple melodies in minor mode. Thus, it was not a specific theme or a fixed sequence of chords what was disseminated throughout Europe at the end of 15th century, but a compositional-improvisational process which could generate these sequences of chords.
The folia melody has also influenced Scandinavian folk music. It is said that around half of the old Swedish tunes are based on la folia. It is possible to recognize a common structure in many Swedish folk tunes, and it is similar to the folia structure. Old folk tunes (19th century or older) which do not have this structure often come from parts of Sweden with little influences from upper classes or other countries.
External links
- La Folia - A Musical Cathedral
- La Folia (1490–1701) - Jordi Savall et al. - Alia Vox 9805 http://www.classicalacarte.net/Fiches/9805.htm
- Altre Follie (1500–1750), Hespèrion XXI, Jordi Savall - Alia Vox 9844 http://www.classicalacarte.net/Fiches/9844.htm
- El Nuevo Mundo - Folias Criollas, Tembembe Ensamble Continuo, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Hespèrion XXI, dir. Jordi Savall - Alia Vox AVSA9876 http://www.classicalacarte.net/Fiches/9876.htm
- Possible origins of the Folía of the Canary Islands (in Spanish)
- A list of musical scores based on the Folia from the Petrucci Music Library