Letter V Classical Radio this week

Variations on and variants of what may be the most ubiquitous tune in European music over the past six centuries: “Folía,” a peasant dance of 15th-century Portuguese and Spanish origin, borrowed by composers from Corelli, Bach and Handel to Liszt, Brahms and Rachmaninoff.

Aug. 20
11 a.m.-2 p.m. EDT
1500-1800 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

“Folía”
(arrangement, c. 1490, by Rodrigo Martinez)
Hesperion XXI (AliaVox)

Corelli: Violin Sonata
in D major, Op. 5, No. 12
(“La Follia”)
Manfred Kraemer, violin
Hesperion XXI (AliaVox)

Handel: Suite in D minor – sarabande
Olivier Baumont, harpsichord (Erato)

J.S. Bach: “Peasant” Cantata, BWV 212 – “Unser trefflicher lieber Kammerherr”
Emma Kirkby, soprano
Academy of Ancient Music/Christopher Hogwood
(L’Oiseau Lyre)

Beethoven: Cello Sonata
in A major, Op. 69
Matt Haimovitz, cello
Christopher O’Riley, fortepiano
(Pentatone/Oxingale)

Salieri: “26 Variations on
‘La Folia de Spagna’ ”
London Mozart Players/
Matthias Bamert (Chandos)

Brahms: Sextet No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 18
Regis Pasquier & Raphael Oleg, violins
Bruno Pasquier & Jean Dupouy, violas
Roland Pidoux & Etienne Péclard, cellos
(Harmonia Mundi France)

Liszt: “Rhapsodie espagnole”
Stephen Hough, piano (Virgin Classics)

Past Masters:
Ponce: “Theme, Variations and Fugue on Folias de España” (abridged)
Andres Segovia, guitar (EMI Classics)
(recorded 1930)

Rachmaninoff: “Variations on a Theme of Corelli”
Paolo Giacometti, piano (Brilliant Classics)

improvisation on the “Folía” bass
Teatro Lirico/Stephen Stubbs (ECM)