La Folia (Folías de España, based on Vivaldi), improvisation by Voices of Music; 4K video

Voices of Music performs improvisations on La Follia. Live video from our Musical Crossroads concert, January, 2019. For this musical work, each performer was given only a bass part and a simple tune--the “bare bones“ of the La Follia dance. The music was improvised, and each performance was different. Alana looks at each musician to show when it’s their turn to solo. Each solo turn is performed in a different style--baroque composers such as Telemann sometimes created suites combining different styles from different countries, so this is part of a long tradition. La Follia was a dance craze in the late renaissance and baroque. The instrument on the far left is a Kamancha. The Kamancha is played in Eurasia and the Middle East, and has four or five strings tuned similar to a violin. Imamyar plays in the Azerbaijan style. Peter Maund, seated on the left, is playing a frame drum. Frame drums are found all over the world and are one of the oldest types of instruments. David Tayler is playing the archlute. In the late 16th century, instrument makers added a long neck to the renaissance lute to increase the range of the instrument in the bass register. Cheryl Ann Fulton is playing a lever harp. The harp has all open strings which adds a wonderful color to the overall sound. Alana and Laura trade off improvising on the tune and also improvising a counter-melody to the tune. Also, the second time through Imamyar’s solo, Bill Skeen is adding double stops on the cello as accompaniment. We are thrilled to announce that we are (we believe) the first Early Music ensemble in the world to reach the YouTube Creator’s Silver level, which includes passing the 100,000 subscribers mark. To celebrate, we release our latest video which is a set of free improvisations on the La Follia dance from our Musical Crossroads concert. Thanks to all our musicians who made this day possible. Voices of Music Hanneke van Proosdij & David Tayler Directors Improvisations on La Follia Imamyar Hasanov, kamancha Peter Maund, percussion Alana Youssefian, baroque violin Laura Risk, baroque violin Hanneke Van Proosdij, harpsichord William Skeen, baroque cello Cheryl Ann Fulton, harp David Tayler, archlute #Folia