Stylus fantasticus
Encyclopedia
The stylus fantasticus is a style of early baroque music
.
The root of this music is organ toccata
s and fantasias
, particularly derived from those of Claudio Merulo
(1533-1604), organist at St Mark's basilica
in Venice
. A later practitioner in Rome
was Girolamo Frescobaldi
and his German student Froberger
took the style north with him. There were constant flows of Italian musicians north to Bavaria and Saxony, of German musicians south to Italy (such as Hans Leo Hassler
and Heinrich Schütz
), and of musicians who had careers in both Austria and Italy (such as Sances and Turini). The author, scientist and inventor, a true baroque polymath, Athanasius Kircher
describes the stylus fantasticus in his book, Musurgia Universalis:
The style is related to improvisation but is characterised by the use of short contrasting episodes and a free form, just like a classical fantasia
.
In Austria the style was practised by the famous formidable virtuoso Heinrich Ignaz Biber
and the older Johann Heinrich Schmelzer
.
In summer the Prince Bishop of Olomouc
and his court retired to Kromeriz
Castle, where there were lavish musical entertainments. Ballets such as The Fencing School and descriptive pieces
such as Battalia or The Peasants go to Church. Kromeriz Castle then was newly built by the Prince Bishop, the original medieval structure having been destroyed by the Swedes towards the end of the 30 years war. Jacob Handl had worked at the old castle between 1579 and 1585. The discontinuity in musical life and musical training due to the 30 years war explains the originality and the folkiness of the stylus fantasticus at Kromeriz
. Though Bishop Karl was fanatically interested in music, and is principally known in England as a patron of Biber and Schmelzer, he was the driving force behind the restoration of the economy of Moravia after the destruction of the 30 Years War.
Many facets of musical modernism were invented in the stylus fantasticus at Kromeriz, such as bitonality in Battalia, minimalism in The Peasants go to Church, stochasticism in Vejvanovsky's Bells. What is not always mentioned is that these techniques are used to represent chaos, drunkenness, stupidity, and animal noises rather than as a principal resource.
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
.
The root of this music is organ toccata
Toccata
Toccata is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer's fingers...
s and fantasias
Fantasia (music)
The fantasia is a musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation. Because of this, it seldom approximates the textbook rules of any strict musical form ....
, particularly derived from those of Claudio Merulo
Claudio Merulo
Claudio Merulo was an Italian composer, publisher and organist of the late Renaissance period, most famous for his innovative keyboard music and his ensemble music composed in the Venetian polychoral style. He was born in Correggio and died in Parma...
(1533-1604), organist at St Mark's basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. A later practitioner in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
was Girolamo Frescobaldi
Girolamo Frescobaldi
Girolamo Frescobaldi was a musician from Ferrara, one of the most important composers of keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. A child prodigy, Frescobaldi studied under Luzzasco Luzzaschi in Ferrara, but was influenced by a large number of composers, including Ascanio...
and his German student Froberger
Johann Jakob Froberger
Johann Jakob Froberger was a German Baroque composer, keyboard virtuoso, and organist. He was among the most famous composers of the era and influenced practically every major composer in Europe by developing the genre of keyboard suite and contributing greatly to the exchange of musical...
took the style north with him. There were constant flows of Italian musicians north to Bavaria and Saxony, of German musicians south to Italy (such as Hans Leo Hassler
Hans Leo Hassler
Hans Leo Hassler was a German composer and organist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, elder brother of the less-famous Jakob Hassler...
and Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz was a German composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and often considered to be one of the most important composers of the 17th century along with Claudio Monteverdi...
), and of musicians who had careers in both Austria and Italy (such as Sances and Turini). The author, scientist and inventor, a true baroque polymath, Athanasius Kircher
Athanasius Kircher
Athanasius Kircher was a 17th century German Jesuit scholar who published around 40 works, most notably in the fields of oriental studies, geology, and medicine...
describes the stylus fantasticus in his book, Musurgia Universalis:
- The fantastic style is especially suited to instruments. It is the most free and unrestrained method of composing, it is bound to nothing, neither to any words nor to a melodic subject, it was instituted to display genius and to teach the hidden design of harmony and the ingenious composition of harmonic phrases and fugues.
The style is related to improvisation but is characterised by the use of short contrasting episodes and a free form, just like a classical fantasia
Fantasia (music)
The fantasia is a musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation. Because of this, it seldom approximates the textbook rules of any strict musical form ....
.
In Austria the style was practised by the famous formidable virtuoso Heinrich Ignaz Biber
Heinrich Ignaz Biber
Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber von Bibern was a Bohemian-Austrian composer and violinist. Born in the small Bohemian town of Wartenberg , Biber worked at Graz and Kroměříž before he illegally left his Kroměříž employer and settled in Salzburg...
and the older Johann Heinrich Schmelzer
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer was an Austrian composer and violinist of the Baroque era. Almost nothing is known about his early years, but he seems to have arrived in Vienna during the 1630s, and remained composer and musician at the Habsburg court for the rest of his life...
.
In summer the Prince Bishop of Olomouc
Olomouc
Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis and historical capital city of Moravia. Nowadays, it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic...
and his court retired to Kromeriz
Kromeríž
Kroměříž is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. The town's main landmark is the Baroque Kroměříž Bishop's Palace, where some scenes from Amadeus and Immortal Beloved were filmed...
Castle, where there were lavish musical entertainments. Ballets such as The Fencing School and descriptive pieces
such as Battalia or The Peasants go to Church. Kromeriz Castle then was newly built by the Prince Bishop, the original medieval structure having been destroyed by the Swedes towards the end of the 30 years war. Jacob Handl had worked at the old castle between 1579 and 1585. The discontinuity in musical life and musical training due to the 30 years war explains the originality and the folkiness of the stylus fantasticus at Kromeriz
Kromeríž
Kroměříž is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. The town's main landmark is the Baroque Kroměříž Bishop's Palace, where some scenes from Amadeus and Immortal Beloved were filmed...
. Though Bishop Karl was fanatically interested in music, and is principally known in England as a patron of Biber and Schmelzer, he was the driving force behind the restoration of the economy of Moravia after the destruction of the 30 Years War.
Many facets of musical modernism were invented in the stylus fantasticus at Kromeriz, such as bitonality in Battalia, minimalism in The Peasants go to Church, stochasticism in Vejvanovsky's Bells. What is not always mentioned is that these techniques are used to represent chaos, drunkenness, stupidity, and animal noises rather than as a principal resource.
Composers employing the stylus fantasticus
- Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
- Antonio BertaliAntonio BertaliAntonio Bertali was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era.He was born in Verona and received early music education there from Stefano Bernardi. Probably from 1624, he was employed as court musician in Vienna by Emperor Ferdinand II. In 1649 Bertali succeeded Giovanni Valentini as...
- Heinrich Ignaz BiberHeinrich Ignaz BiberHeinrich Ignaz Franz Biber von Bibern was a Bohemian-Austrian composer and violinist. Born in the small Bohemian town of Wartenberg , Biber worked at Graz and Kroměříž before he illegally left his Kroměříž employer and settled in Salzburg...
- Dietrich Buxtehude
- Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi MealliGiovanni Antonio Pandolfi MealliGiovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli was an Italian composer and violinist....
- Johann Adam ReinckenJohann Adam ReinckenJohann Adam Reincken was a Dutch/German organist and composer...
- Johann Heinrich SchmelzerJohann Heinrich SchmelzerJohann Heinrich Schmelzer was an Austrian composer and violinist of the Baroque era. Almost nothing is known about his early years, but he seems to have arrived in Vienna during the 1630s, and remained composer and musician at the Habsburg court for the rest of his life...
- Pavel Josef VejvanovskyPavel Josef VejvanovskýPavel Josef Vejvanovský Czech composer and trumpeter. Contemporary and associate of Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber.Some notable works by Pavel Josef Vejvanovský:...
- Johann SchopJohann SchopJohann Schop was a German violinist and composer, much admired as a musician and a technician, who was a virtuoso and whose compositions for the violin set impressive technical demands for that area at that time. In 1756 Leopold Mozart commented on the difficulty of a trill in a work by Schop,...
Historical Sources
- Musurgia universalis by Athanasius Kircher; page 585 (Max Planck Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte)
- Musurgia universalis by Athanasius Kircher; page 585 (University of Strasbourg - alt)
- Early Chamber Music by Ruth Halle Rowen; page 10