Description
Carel (Carolus) Hacquart (c. 1640-c. 1701), born in Bruges, is considered one of the most important composers of the seventeenth-century Low Countries. His collection Harmonia Parnassia, comprising ten string sonatas, here presented in its first complete recording, is regarded as a pinnacle of early Baroque string music in the region. Like his brother Philips Hacquart, Carel left the Catholic Southern Netherlands and settled in the Reformed Northern Netherlands. Hacquart was active in the private musical life of the Northern Dutch bourgeoisie, where keyboard music also played a central role. This double CD combines Hacquart's string sonatas with keyboard works from the Anna Maria van Eyl Manuscript, including compositions by Gisbert Steenwick - teacher of the patrician daughter Anna Maria van Eyl - Johann Jakob Froberger, and Heinrich Scheidemann. Together, they offer an intimate glimpse into the rich domestic musical life of the seventeenth century.