Stylus Phantasticus – Music at the Edge of Imagination

Step into a world of wild invention and dazzling virtuosity.
Stylus Phantasticus is perhaps the most imaginative and rule-breaking musical style of the baroque era – like written-down improvisation, performed as if composed yesterday and played for the very first time today.

Artistic Director Lars Ulrik Mortensen describes Stylus Phantasticus as "a kind of speech in music" – and insists it must be played in a way that "can surprise or even shock – and take the listener on a journey". This is music that lives on the edge, embracing extremes and emotional depth.

In this concert, Concerto Copenhagen explores a repertoire full of unexpected twists, sudden contrasts, and pure musical fantasy. You’ll hear music that defies time signatures, melody, tempo – even structure – and instead flows freely, from one bold idea to the next.

Originating in Italy in the late 1500s, the style evolved through wild keyboard toccatas and stravaganzas, and reached its peak with the North German organ school and composers like Dietrich Buxtehude around 1700.

Though the term Stylus Phantasticus faded with the baroque, its spirit of freedom and fantasy didn’t disappear. It lived on in the great improvisers of later centuries – Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, and Paganini – all of whom walked the same tightrope between instinct and structure, impulse and form.

This concert offers a glimpse into a musical style that continues to inspire, provoke, and push boundaries – a thrilling start to the new year with CoCo!

Tour Dates
📍 Jan 3 – Sct. Bendts Church, Ringsted
📍 Jan 6 – Skanderborg Castle Church
📍 Jan 7 – Dråby or Ebeltoft Church
📍 Jan 11 – Søllerød Church, Holte

Tickets and more info: https://coco.dk/serie/stylus-phantasticus/