Farinel’s Ground and other ‘Follyes’ in English sources of the late 17th and early 18th centuries

Abstract This article is the result of a comprehensive study of folia grounds—usually known as Farinel’s Ground in England—published, copied in or otherwise connected with England, a list of which is provided. A discussion of general characteristics as well as of typical melodic, harmonic and rhythmic features of folia grounds from this period is followed by a comparative analysis of all English folias. These form relatively distinct groups of sources that often share strains, suggesting patterns of transmission particular to division grounds. Lastly, the order of strains in a number of versions is discussed in conjunction with principles outlined in Christopher Simpson’s The Division-Violist (London, 1659) and Thomas Mace’s Musick’s Monument (London, 1676), shedding light on what theorists and composers at the time thought about large-scale structure in division grounds, and in ground-bass compositions in general.