San Francisco-based early music ensemble Voices of Music plays Italian composer and lutenist Andrea Falconieri’s Folias (La Folia), with the original instruments. This performance was recorded during the “Art of the Recorder” concert, in February
Performers
- Featuring Hanneke van Proosdij, recorder
- Carla Moore, baroque violin
- Elisabeth Reed, viola da gamba
- Rodney Gehrke, baroque organ
- Peter Maund, percussion
- Cheryl Ann Fulton, triple harp
- David Tayler, baroque guitar
Andrea Falconieri’s Folias
Andrea Falconieri (1585 or 1586 – 1656), also known as Falconiero, was an Italian composer and lutenist from Naples. He resided in Parma from 1604 until 1614, and later moved to Rome, and then back to his native Naples, wherein 1647 he became the
The original title reads “Folias Echa Para Mi Señora Doña Tarolilla De Carallenos” (Primo libro di canzone, Naples, Paolini & Ricci, 1650). The composition uses the technique of “wandering variation,” pioneered by Monteverdi and others, in which the composer creates musical episodes in the form of brief excursions from the standard variation pattern. Falconieri also adds a brief adagio to provide a moment of harmonic and rhythmic contrast before the final variations.
The continuo group is here represented by the viola da gamba, organ, archlute, and triple harp: in the 17th century it was not unusual to have a rich and varied continuo group; each player improvises a part that creates a unique “voice” in the texture as well as blends together to form a complete accompaniment.
La Folía
La Folía, known as one of the oldest remembered European musical themes, has been a foundational and transformative melody throughout centuries of Western music. Also referred to as Follies in English, Folies d’Espagne in French, and La Follia in Italian, this theme traces its origins to the Iberian Peninsula, where it likely began as a lively dance during the mid-to-late 15th century.
Its structure exists in two forms: an early, faster folia and a later, more refined, and widely recognized version featuring a standard chord progression. The early folia represented a compositional process focused on improvisation, while the later folia evolved into a more formalized sequence of chords that composers could use as a foundation for variations.
Over time, La Folía became popular across Europe, inspiring an extensive repertoire of variations by composers who found in its form both a challenge and a source of expressive potential. The 17th-century composer Jean-Baptiste Lully is credited with solidifying the chord progression that is now associated with the “later folia,” and he was soon followed by other Baroque giants, such as Arcangelo Corelli, Antonio Vivaldi, and George Frideric Handel, who each crafted variations on the theme.
The melody’s adaptability and emotive resonance allowed composers to mold it into countless interpretations, from the virtuosic to the somber, thus weaving La Folía into the fabric of classical music tradition.
By the 19th century, La Folía’s legacy continued to influence composers like Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Liszt, while later works by Alfredo Casella and Sergei Rachmaninov revived it for modern audiences. Outside classical circles, the theme’s universal appeal extended into folk and popular music.
Scandinavian folk traditions adopted the structure, while modern musicians have referenced it in electronic music, film scores, and even pop music, as seen in Britney Spears’ “Oops!… I Did It Again.” This centuries-old theme thus endures as a bridge across genres, exemplifying how a simple, recurring melody can transcend cultural and temporal boundaries to inspire continuous reinterpretation.
Sources
- Andrea Falconieri on Wikipedia
- Folia on Wikipedia
