The furlana (also spelled ''furlane'', ''forlane'', ''friulana'', ''forlana'') is an
Italian folk dance
Italian folk dance has been an integral part of Italian culture for centuries. Dance has been a continuous thread in Italian life from Dante through the Renaissance, the advent of the ''tarantella'' in Southern Italy, and the modern revivals of ...
from the Italian region of
Friuli Venezia Giulia
(man), it, Friulana (woman), it, Giuliano (man), it, Giuliana (woman)
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. In
Friulian, ''furlane'' means ''Friulian'', in this case ''Friulian Dance''. In
Friuli
Friuli ( fur, Friûl, sl, Furlanija, german: Friaul) is an area of Northeast Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity containing 1,000,000 Friulians. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giulia ...
there has been a Slav minority since the
Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps The settlement of the Eastern Alps region by early Slavs took place during the 6th to 8th centuries.
It is part of the southward expansion of the early Slavs which would result in the characterization of the South Slavic group, and would ultimatel ...
, and the furlana may well have originated as a Slavonic dance. It dates at least to 1583, when a "ballo furlano" called ''L'arboscello'' was published in Pierre Phalèse the Younger’s ''Chorearum molliorum collectanea'' and in Jakob Paix’s organ tablature book, though its chief popularity extended from the late 1690s to about 1750. It is particularly associated with Venice because, at the time of its popularity, Friuli was a part of the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
.
The ''furlana'' is a fast dance, in duple-time , though one exceptional example proves to be in
quintuple meter
Quintuple meter or quintuple time is a musical meter characterized by five beats in a measure.
They may consist of any combination of variably stressed or equally stressed beats.
Like the more common duple, triple, and quadruple meters, it may ...
, underlining the Slavonic associations also suggested by its title, ''Polesana'', which in Italian can mean "a woman from
Pola Pola or POLA may refer to:
People
*House of Pola, an Italian noble family
*Pola Alonso (1923–2004), Argentine actress
*Pola Brändle (born 1980), German artist and photographer
*Pola Gauguin (1883–1961), Danish painter
*Pola Gojawiczyńska (18 ...
" (a city in
Istria
Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...
, neighbouring Friuli and a part of Italy until 1947), or may be from the Croatian word "polesa", meaning "rural", or "from the back woods". Originally the ''furlana'' was a
courtship
Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marriage. A courtship may be an informal and private m ...
dance, performed by a couple. It was introduced to France by
André Campra
André Campra (; baptized 4 December 1660 – 29 June 1744) was a French composer and conductor of the Baroque era. The leading French opera composer in the period between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau, Campra wrote several '' tra ...
in 1697 (in ''
L'Europe galante
''L'Europe galante'' (''Galant Europe'') is an opéra-ballet in a prologue and four entrées by André Campra to a French libretto by Antoine Houdar de la Motte.
The opera is regarded as the first opéra-ballet, with the entrées sharing a comm ...
'') and 1699 (in ''
Le carnaval de Venise
''Le carnaval de Venise'' (English: ''The Carnival of Venice'') is a '' comédie-lyrique'' in a prologue and three acts by the French composer André Campra. The libretto is by Jean-François Regnard. It was first performed on 20 January 1699 by t ...
'', in which the first of two furlanas serves as a dance entry for a troupe of Slavs, Armenians, and Gypsies), and it quickly became a popular theatre and
social dance
Social dances are dances that have a social functions and context. Social dances are intended for participation rather than performance. They are often danced merely to socialise and for entertainment, though they may have ceremonial, competit ...
there.
Pietro Paolo Melii (active first quarter of the 17th century) included a "Furlain volta alla Francese detta la Schapigliata" in his ''Intavolatura di Liuto attiorbato, e di Tiorba. Libro Quinto'' (Venice, 1620). The piece is written almost entirely in running eighths, and, as so many of Melii's pieces, makes considerable use of syncopation. Giovanni Battista Vitali, a 17th-century composer, included a Furlana in 6/8 time in his "Partite sopra diverse Sonate per il Violino."
Musedita, 2005
/ref> François Couperin
François Couperin (; 10 November 1668 – 11 September 1733) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as ''Couperin le Grand'' ("Couperin the Great") to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented ...
closed the fourth of his Concerts royaux with a forlane. Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
incorporated a forlane in his first orchestral suite
A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...
. Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
recalled the baroque usage in his piano suite ''Le Tombeau de Couperin
''Le Tombeau de Couperin'' (''The Couperin's Grave'') is a suite for solo piano by Maurice Ravel, composed between 1914 and 1917. The piece is in six movements, based on those of a traditional Baroque suite. Each movement is dedicated to the me ...
'', though his Forlane is a rather plaintive piece in moderate time. Another forlane occurs at the end of Ernest Chausson
Amédée-Ernest Chausson (; 20 January 1855 – 10 June 1899) was a French Romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish.
Life
Born in Paris into an affluent bourgeois family, Chausson was the sole surviving child of a ...
's piano suite ''Quelques Danses'' (Some Dances)—this one far livelier and featuring an alternation between triple and sextuple rhythms. The fourth movement of Gerald Finzi
Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata '' Dies natalis'' for solo voice and ...
's Five Bagatelles
Bagatelle (from the Château de Bagatelle) is a billiards-derived indoor table game, the object of which is to get a number of balls (set at nine in the 19th century) past wooden pins (which act as obstacles) into holes that are guarded by wooden ...
(Op. 23) is a forlana as is the fourth movement of Richard Harvey
Richard Allen Harvey (born 25 September 1953) is an English composer and musician. Originally of the mediaevalist progressive rock group Gryphon, he is best known now for his film and television soundtracks. He is also known for his guitar co ...
's ''Concerto Antico'' for guitar and orchestra.
References
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External links
StreetSwing
{{Authority control
Italian folk music
Italian folk dances
European folk dances
Baroque dance
Dance forms in classical music
Partner dance