Stylus fantasticus

The Stylus Phantasticus (also Stylus Fantasticus or Fantastic style ) is an Italian-born style in the music of the Baroque, whose beginnings go back to Claudio Merulo and reached its peak in the north German organ school of the late 17th century.

In Stylus Phantasticus held works are characterized by a signal derived from the improvisation practice dramatic play, extremely chromatic sections, raging courses are linked together in an original way in which short, different and partly dissonant, bizarre characters. This is done through the use of ostinato patterns over which the solo instruments, similar to today's practice improvisation of jazz, develop complex counterpoints.

Other pioneers of this style next Merulo were Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643), Giovanni Pandolfi ( c. 1620-1669 ) and Johann Jakob Froberger ( 1616-1667 ). In various sonatas by Heinrich Ignaz Biber, Buxtehude or Francesco Maria Veracini the Stylus Phantasticus reached highlights. An impressive example is Johann Sebastian Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue. But Bach's sons continued this style.

In contrast to the Stylus Phantasticus is the Stile Antico. This originates from the Renaissance strict contrapuntal style was particularly used in liturgical compositions, the works of Palestrina often served as a model. The mastery of this style was lost rapidly .. from the second half of the 18th century

Contemporary descriptions of the style

For the first time described by the polymath Athanasius Kircher the stylus Phantasticus 1650 on page 585 in Chapter 5 of the 7th book of his " Musurgia Universalis ", about 50 years after his first appearance as a:

For Stylus Phantasticus Johann Mattheson said in

The belonging to the younger generation Johann Joachim Quantz wrote critical: