Since ancient times, musicians have used repeating patterns as a foundation for compositions and improvisations. One of the most common, the ground bass, involves a bass line that repeats itself while the voices above it engage in melodic variation of increasing complexity. Later, dances based on repeating chord progressions, like the chaconne and passacaille, became popular, turning up in popular French operas and Italian concertos. One of the most popular of ground bass patterns, the folie d’espagne, even had a stock melody that was used by many composers as a launching point for melodic variation. Finally, the simplest of these techniques is the drone, which was often used by 18th-century composers to imitate bagpipes or hurdy-gurdies and to evoke the sound of folk music. Recorded live in high definition video and audio at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Austin, this program will include music by Handel, Vivaldi, Lully, Purcell, Cabanilles, Telemann, and Marini.