Western Europe can be considered as the historical center of gravity of the birth and
rise of the later Folia theme. Here is an overview of the places where the Folia emerged,
in chronological order of appearance. The coordinates are not absolute because even in the 17th
century lots of composers travelled all over Europe: Spanish Caspar Sanz studied in Rome (Italy),
his landsman Santiago de Murcia went to Naples, Italian Nicola Matteis performed the Folia as a virtuoso in
England and Farinel(li) (or Faronel) left his trail in Italy and Germany
before his Folia was published in London, England. Most composers studied or were influenced by
members of their own gild and they travelled to different courts. This mobility of composers
and performers undoubtedly has contributed to the fame of the Folia-theme all over Western Europe.
An example of these influences is the composer Santiago de Murcia who studied with the
guitarist Francisco Guerau in Spain. In 1702 he presumably went to Naples with King
Philip V where he would have met Arcangelo Corelli and Alessandro Scarlatti to name some other
Folia-founding-fathers. And how about
Bernardo Pasquini the Italian keyboard composer and the only one as far as I know who composed three
different sets of Folias whose manuscrips were found in England, Germany and Portugal! The bigger the dot,
the more important the composition is considered in literature. Concentration of dots is due to
the publishers of music in those cities like Paris, Rome, London and Amsterdam.
Additional information and corrections about the facts presented will be appreciated.
