Harmonia Mundi's Phantasticus, featuring the excellent period performance ensemble
Romanesca, was released in 1996. Phantasticus takes as its point of departure an extract from the writings of seventeenth century theorist
Athanasius Kircher, who among his classification of musical styles includes reference to "stylus Phantasticus," the "most liberated form of composition, free from any constraints of text or predetermined harmony to display genius." A selection of works drawn from early Baroque composers, some barely known, but all worthy to some degree of revival illustrate this point: works by
Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Meali,
Giovanni Paolo Cima,
Dario Castello, and
Giovanni Battista Fontana appear, among others. What ties them together is their looseness of form, bizarre gestures, wandering harmony, and fragmented sense of the pulse. All of these pieces are expertly played by
Romanesca, and lutenist
Nigel North and harpsichordist
John Toll are featured in generous solo outings, as well.