Les Folies d'Espagne: La Folia

DrDave — Sat, 05 Apr 2014 12:28:26 +0000

The Folies d'Espagne is one of the oldest known dance forms. In this historical reconstruction, you will see the dance performed on instruments from the 17th century. On the right is the French baroque guitar, which was based on late renaissance instruments popular in Spain and Italy, as well the triple harp, which is a harp with three sets of strings (just for @Mark_the_Harp). On the left, an early form of the recorder, and a baroque violin using the smaller, lighter bow; the violin is played without a chinrest as well. The accompaniment is improvised by the musicians who are given a simple chord chart, similar to the way Jazz musicians improvise. The seven string instrument on the left is a viola da gamba, which existed side by side with the cello for hundreds of years before disappearing in the late 18th century. The viola da gamba has frets like a guitar, to facilitate the playing of chords, as well as microtones which were used in the baroque time.

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Les Folies d'Espagne: La Folia