Purity and Madness, or the Folly of Follia: Corelli’s op. 5 no. 12 as Psychodrama
Purity and Madness, or the Folly of Follia: Corelli’s op. 5 no. 12 as Psychodrama

Summary/Abstract: Italian, French, and English nineteenth-century sources suggest that Corelli’s violin sonatas were perceived as “pure” or “classical”, unlike merely virtuosic repertoire or more decadent contemporary music. Editors tended towards restraint when adding conventional performance indications such as fingerings and most did not significantly re-compose the work. But later in the nineteenth century several versions of Corelli’s “Follia” variations op. 5 no. 12 appeared which contradicted this approach. This article looks at the highly virtuosic re-arrangements of this piece by Hubert Léonard (1877) and especially César Thomson (1902). Léonard removes variations and creates a three-movement form as well as adding a long cadenza; Thomson creates a psychological explanation for the piece’s title and composes much additional material as well as including part of a Corelli trio-sonata. This version was at that time one of the most extreme re-workings of any piece of baroque music.

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