Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck - Fantasia in F SwWV 264

Sébastien Letocart at the organ of Spa:
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The church: www.belgiumview...
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Over a century before Bach, this is the quintessence of keyboard music in a form which allies expression, economy - or density of thought - counterpoint and something which reminds of organic growth, as if these works were rare plants developing along recognizable patterns yet never really repeating themselves, each phrase new and unique in its context.
This is music of the rarest kind, crystallized culmination on the keyboard of the centuries old art of polyphony, making the subsequent Baroque and Classical eras appear like a little light music in comparison.