Stylus Phantasticus

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

featuring Tekla Cunningham as the virtuoso violinist who is the perfect instrumental protagonist for this journey through the wild and wonderful, semi-improvised world of 17th century violin music from Italy and Germany. The compositions included on this provide prime examples of the lineage of the Stylus Phantasticus from its Italian roots, before Kircher wrote his definition, to its later development into an "imperial style" associated with Central Europe and the Habsburgs. The famous Jesuit Father Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) wrote in Book VII of the Musurgia Universalis describing different musical styles, but, in particular, he defined a "fantastical style" for instruments:

"The Stylus Phantasticus is appropriate to instruments. It is the most free and unfettered method of composition, bound to nothing, neither to words, nor to a harmonious subject. It is organized with regard to manifest invention, the hidden reason of harmony, and an ingenious, skilled connection of harmonic phrases and fugues. And it is divided into, those pieces which are commonly called Phantasias, Ricercatas, Toccatas, and Sonatas.”

"a comprehensive exploration of a 17th-century performance style that dazzles as much as it brings resolution. ... Played with verve, the music presented here reaffirms the old notion that instrumental music can have the flair of any theatrical spectacle. ... a stellar vessel for the boldest showmanship”

-Aaron Keebaugh for Early Music America

"Lively and virtuosic...captures the daring mood and and the spirit of experimentation in this radical group of works.. a triumph for Early Music."

-James Manheim, All Music

ARTISTS:

Tekla Cunningham, baroque violin
Stephen Stubbs, baroque guitar and chittarone
Maxine Eilander, baroque harp
Henry Lebedinsky, organ and harpsichord
William Skeen, bass violin/ baroque cello