La Folía and "The Red Priest"

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***“Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale…”***

Quick, hum a melody! What is the first tune that comes to mind? Was it Happy Birthday? God Bless America? The theme to Gilligan’s Island? If you lived from 1700 – 1900 there is a good chance it was “La Folía” (in Spanish – in Italian it is "La Follia," in Portuguese it is "Folia"). Don’t know it? Ah, but you do, you just don’t know you know it. And you can hear it on the Winter Baroque concert on Sunday, December 22^nd at St. Paul’s.

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***Pardon me, may I have the next dance?***

La Folía was the world’s first viral melody. The oldest written record dates to an anonymous author in Spain from 1470 but surely it was around far longer, presumed to have sprung from a Spanish shepherd dance. If I were a shepherd, I imagine I would be too tired by the end of the day to dance. However, since they were Spanish, they probably had ample free time for hijinks before dinner at 11:00 pm.

Coming to Winter Baroque 2024:
"The Red Priest," Antonio Vivaldi's (1678 - 1741) "La Follia"

The melody was subsequently employed by over 150 composers since 1470 including Jean-Baptiste Lully, Arcangello Corelli, Marin Marais, Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Handel, Bach (J.S. and C. P. E.), Salieri, Purcell, Liszt, Beethoven, and Rachmaninov. More recently, Britney Spears used it in 2000.

Not coming to Winter Baroque 2024:
Britney Spears (b. 1981)

We’re performing the Vivaldi version on Winter Baroque for two violins, cello, and harpsichord and if this ain’t 18^th Century rock and roll, I’ll eat my txapela (a Basque shepherd beret, for you non-native Basque speakers out there).

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and see you in December.

David Yang, Artistic Director