Hell Und Dunkel

The idea of light and dark, their contrast and their interaction, can be found in the Bible, is found as Yin and Yang in the great Chinese culture as well as in literature and painting. This idea remains relevant throughout the centuries and thus unites the past with the present. It also forms the guiding principle through the programme recorded here: the contrast is expressed both in the works and in the selection and configuration of the programme. The parallels between the second half of the 17th century and the beginning of the 21st century are expressed in the Magnificat BuxWV 203 by Dietrich Buxtehude and the Toccata by Bernard Foccroulle, composed in 2001 as a tribute to Buxtehude. The reference to the so-called "Stylus Fantasticus" (a musical style of the Baroque period originating in Italy and reaching it's culmination in the North German organ school of the late 17th century) provides natural coherence within this very contrasting album.