Händel Sarabande HWV437 ("The Folia by Händel") Igor Kipnis (hpschd)

Igor Kipnis,(harpsichord) 'Showpieces for harpsichord'
Title: Sarabande in D minor from Suite No. 11 in D minor, Bk II
(Keyboard Suite No. 4 in D minor, HWV 437, III. Sarabande and Variations)
Released by CBS Classics vinyl 61132 without the indication of the year (c. 1970)
Harpsichord built in New York 1961 by Rutkowski and Robinette

Judith Robison wrote as introduction for the Kipnis-track:
Among other duties, Händel was much in demand as a harpsichord teacher. In 1727, he assisted in the publication of his second book of suites, which he entitled 'Lessons for the harpsichord'. The Sarabande, from the fourth suite in this volume, is deceptively simple looking on the printed page. In this recording, it has been embellished and elaborated according to the style of the period.

This tune with the same sort of framework and idea as the Folia is often called Händel's Folia. Everybody can hear that it is no Folia but since Händel did not write any Folias at all and this piece breaths the same atmosphere, and most likely Händel had the Folia-theme in mind when composing this Sarabande, it became known as 'Händel's Folia' in much the same way as the widespread misunderstanding that 'Take Five' was written by Dave Brubeck because his quartet always played the piece.
The similarities between the Folia-theme and the Sarabande by Händel are striking in any way: theme and variations over 16 bars with two regular eight measure phrases, rhythmically the dotted value on the second beat of each measure and the same sort of voicing in upper and lower register.

It seduced Richard Yates to write:
So, aside from this theoretical analysis, what do you think? Does Händel's 'Sarabande' have that 'folía feel? Will you be hearing echoes of it in a multitude of other compositions? Will you be humming it to yourself for the next five hundred years? Then that's a folía!

The popularity of Händel's Sarabande is immense after launching the arrangement for an orchestral setting in the film of Stanley Kubrick. It was shamelessly copied by the World Wildlife Fund (The Netherlands) and later on by Levi's Jeans (Europe, 2002) for their commercials. Even the dutch radio broadcasting of VPRO's 'Boeken'(1984/5) was weekly introduced by the film music of the film by Stanley Kubrick. In 2005 the BBC-documentary-series 'Auschwitz: The nazis and the final solution' was paved with it and Brian De Palma featured the orchestral version as the overture for his 2007 film Redacted. Michael Winterbottom included this sarabande in "A Cock and Bull Story" in an arrangement by Michael Nyman. The commercial for Flemish Duvel beer joined the ranks in 2007. I am sure many more examples will follow.
The classical prototype of 'Stolen Music', to take your own precious feelings and association away for a fragment of a film or a bloody commercial. Such abuse should be prosecuted.

The advertisment for i-tunes I got nothing to do with nor do I get a sponsored program by YouTube. I guess they make it their party.

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