Folia

What it means

The folia, also “La Folia” or “Follia,” is an Iberian dance and bass model that arose in the 15th and 16th centuries in Spain and Portugal. It consists of a recurring chord progression with a characteristic bass line, over which melodies and variations unfold. The word means roughly “folly” or “madness” and points to the boisterous origin of the dance.

Musical use

From the 17th century the folia became the most popular model for variations throughout Europe. Well-known settings come from Arcangelo Corelli, whose violin sonata op. 5 no. 12 (1700) consists of 23 variations, from Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, and later from Franz Liszt and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Typical is the minor progression, for example D–A–D–C–F–C–D–A–D in D minor, which sounds calm and solemn in triple metre.

The folia should be distinguished from the chaconne and the passacaglia, which likewise vary over recurring basses but use different bass models. It also differs from the ostinato in the wider sense in that it fixes not just a bass motif but a whole harmonic model.

Performance practice

When playing or hearing a folia, listen for the basic model and follow how the variations build over it. Shape the progression as a rule with dignity and a clearly stressed bar downbeat, and plan the dynamics over the whole chain of variations so that tension builds step by step.