Folies d’Espagne 315-30 – Bruno Giner

Description

Folies d’Espagne 315-30 – Bruno Giner

Sheet music for 2 mandolines, mandola and guitar.

Score available in hard copy or for download.

In the 15^th century, La Folia or Folies d’Espagne (3-beat dance) appeared in Portugal before spreading throughout Europe, particularly in Spain, France and Italy. Between the end of the 17^th and the beginning of the 18^th centuries, this unchanging, hypnotic tonal harmonic grid literally invaded the royal courts of Europe and obsessed the ears of numerous composers: Gaspar Sanz, Kapsberger, Lully, Marin Marais, Vivaldi, Corelli…

Revisiting the formal and structural archetype of the Folia (32 variations composed in this case for 2 mandolins, mandola and guitar) has enabled us to confront an (ancient) tonal model with a number of harmonic and contrapuntal extensions, as well as a number of (contemporary) playing modes. The result is a perpetually balancing bridge, a crossbreeding – remodeled and renewed – between what may appear “old” and a more “current” language.

Extreme rigor of harmonic and metrical structure combined with total freedom of invention (variations), the Folia – in keeping with its tradition – must be contrasted, unreasonable, crazy (sometimes) and dynamic (often), hypnotic and obsessive (always).