Audio Files

"La Folia" is Portuguese and means folly, though it also suggests "madness". So, why would anyone choose a name like that? Well, there were actually several reasons. First, and probably the least interesting, is that it is a term of significance in classical music. Since the sixteenth century La Folia has referred to a chord progression so popular that the likes of Vivaldi and Rachmaninoff and a host of great composers have used it.

But even before the popular chord progression, there was an annual event in Portugal called La Folia. It was a raucous festive event for which men and women dressed in strange clothing and behaved in a manner that was seemingly "madness". There was even a dance associated with this outrageous revelry called the "Morris Dance. "Our business card has a reproduction of a Bruegel painting (The Wedding Dance) which suggests how a Morris Dance might have looked.

There was still one other reason for choosing "La Folia". There is a beautiful book by Kahlil Gibran entitled "The Madman," about how a great poet discovered his artistic spirit. Returning home one afternoon he found that a thief had broken into his home and stolen his masks. Discovering this he ran into the street shouting, "Thieves, thieves, they have stolen my masks." An old women heard him and from her balcony above she shouted back,"you madman." Hearing this, the poet looked up to see the woman and for the first time felt the sun upon his face. In that moment he realized he would never again need his masks.

La Folia continues to be an inspiration to me. For whenever I think of it, I sense the artistic freedom conjured up in the story of the Madman.


				*La Folia Chamber Ensemble* *Our Story*



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		"La Folia" is Portuguese and means folly, though it also suggests "madness". So, why would anyone choose a name like that? Well, there were actually several reasons. First, and probably the least interesting, is that it is a term of significance in classical music. Since the sixteenth century La Folia has referred to a chord progression so popular that the likes of Vivaldi and Rachmaninoff and a host of great composers have used it. But even before the popular chord progression, there was an annual event in Portugal called La Folia. It was a raucous festive event for which men and women dressed in strange clothing and behaved in a manner that was seemingly "madness". There was even a dance associated with this outrageous revelry called the "Morris Dance. "Our business card has a reproduction of a Bruegel painting (The Wedding Dance) which suggests how a Morris Dance might have looked. There was still one other reason for choosing "La Folia". There is a beautiful book by Kahlil Gibran entitled "The Madman," about how a great poet discovered his artistic spirit. Returning home one afternoon he found that a thief had broken into his home and stolen his masks. Discovering this he ran into the street shouting, "Thieves, thieves, they have stolen my masks." An old women heard him and from her balcony above she shouted back,"you madman." Hearing this, the poet looked up to see the woman and for the first time felt the sun upon his face. In that moment he realized he would never again need his masks. La Folia continues to be an inspiration to me. For whenever I think of it, I sense the artistic freedom conjured up in the story of the Madman.



		email: lafolia@earthlink.net