Grounds

Ground, or ostinato (it. obstinate), is a musical motif or phrase that is constantly repeated in one voice, most often at the same pitch. In the Renaissance and Baroque, the ground bass or basso ostinato is a type of variation form in which the bass line always carries the same harmonic scheme. Among the most famous grounds are W. Byrd's The Bells, H. Purcell's chromatic ground from the opera Dido and Aeneas, La Folia (in England Faronel's Ground), which has been worked on many times, J. Pachelbel's Canon, etc. Grounds were and are popular musical material for improvisation, in Renaissance and Baroque music often using divisions (D. Ortiz: Recercadas, The Division Flute, etc.).
  Basso continuo: Martin Perkins (courtesy of the artist) Matteis, Nicola:
  Modern edition: Ground after the Scotch humour,
  Dolce 1996
  IMSLP: Ground after the Scotch Humour
Finger, Gottfried:
  Modern edition: THE DIVISION FLUTE I (1706), Amadeus 1987
  IMSLP: The Division Flute
Greensleeves:
  Modern edition: THE DIVISION FLUTE I (1706), Amadeus 1987
  IMSLP: The Division Flute
Faronells Ground:
  Modern edition: The Division Flute, Schott 1983
  IMSLP: Faronells Division on a Ground