La Folia in D Minor
Chamber Music - Digital Sheet Music

Cello,Cembalo,Violin - Level 4 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1224544

Composed by Jose Bravo. Baroque,Chamber,Classical,Early Music. 107 pages. Jose Bravo #820650. Published by Jose Bravo (A0.1224544).

From the Composer:
I committed last year (2022) to review my musical works that have been in digital storage, complete them as necessary, and release them for the world to hear. I finally finished my first work on this list, one that's been on my hard drive in one version or another since 1999 (that's 24 whole years!).

Las Follias de España (which despite its name, originally came from Portugal) is a chord progression usually in either D minor or G minor in the form of i-V-i-VII-III-VII-i-V. Composers for the last 500 years have used this chord progression to come up with some fantastic theme and variations, ranging from unaccompanied works, trio sonatas, to even full orchestral implementations. You can spend a looooong time listening to all the beautiful compositions that composers have made over the centuries highlighting this very captivating set of chords.

I humbly submit my own version of La Folia in D minor for String Trio and Cembalo (harpsichord). I wrote my first version of this in my senior year of High School as a challenge to myself to write music in a genre I loved. I made updates here and there over the years, but its sat on a hard drive the entire time. It's taken me months to essentially rework it to my satisfaction and has been submitted for copyright. I have uploaded it to YouTube to share with others.

BIG SHOUT OUTS to the three composers that inspired me in this work:
Corelli: - His version of La Folia is probably the most popular for violinists, especially those that play out of the Suzuki books. I included a modified version of his Folia (Variation 9) in my work (with all other parts being vastly different from his interpretation) as an homage to his work.

J.S. Bach - He showed me that music can be as intelligent as it is beautiful. I have two variations inspired by his work. Variation 8 is one that I wrote this year (2023) which I wanted to write for a long time is a variation that showcases the Harpsichord. Bach's keyboard works and unaccompanied violin works inspired me here. Second, Variation 14 I feel has Bach's inspiration all over it. The violin parts are each playing separate distinct melodies in double counterpoint which trade parts on the repeat. The bass line follows a pattern that Bach has employed for the bass on a number of Violin concertos and lastly, the Harpsichord treble part is a mensuration canon based on one of the violin parts, with the keyboard part playing the melody 4x as fast with variations. Lastly on a play of numbers, number 14 was a very special number for Bach, and as a tribute, I've made this the 14th variation in my work. This was also a new variation I added this year (2023) as well.

Vivaldi - My first musical love. I feel that I captured a little bit of his musical DNA in all my works and this piece showcases this. Vivaldi's works is what made me fall in love with Baroque music and I am indebted to him for the profound impact his works have had on my life.

So here you go. 413 measures. My longest individual work to date. And because I love playing with numbers, I decided to release this to the world on my 41st Year, 3rd month. Enjoy!

-  Jose Bravo.