The green leaves of summer are finally upon us, so this month we celebrate La Folia, a 500-year-old chord progression that has been used in hundreds of pieces. Corelli and Vivaldi have famous examples, Sor did several variations, Bach has but one, and Beethoven slipped just 8 bars of it into the second movement of his 5th symphony. Certainly you've heard a folia.
More recently, the song coincidentally named The Green Leaves of Summer, written for The Alamo starring John Wayne and sung by the Brothers Four, began with the first 5 bars of the progression. Vangelis, famous for Chariots of Fire, used the whole progression with his own melody for the movie 1492: A Conquest of Paradise. Even the pop song Oops!... I Did It Again sung by Britney Spears has the progression in its chorus!
Still having a hard time imagining what all these disparate examples could have in common? Then you should download this month's sightreading handout* and play the four easy examples given on the front page. You'll also want to see the youtube links on the back page for the most recent examples. Just click the link below, and do it now!