folía, la

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folía, la (Sp., ‘the folly’; It. la follia). A type of wild Portuguese dance. One particular melody used for the dance attained wide popular currency in the 16th, 17th, and 18th cents., being first mentioned by Salinas in 1577, and subsequently used by numerous composers as an ostinato basis for variations. The best-known set is by Corelli in his 12th sonata for vn. and hpd., 1700. Other composers to use the melody incl. Vivaldi, Frescobaldi, Lully, Pergolesi, Geminiani, Bach, Grétry, Cherubini, Liszt, Nielsen, Rachmaninov, and Henze.

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