Teun Wisse

The Story of Dutch baroque music is a story of cultural connections, of European history. There was not a shortage of music, including repertoire for recorder, in Holland: Amsterdam was not only a center of composition and instrument making, but also one of the most important centers for music publishing. Many of the most esteemed Italian composers had their work published in Amsterdam, making it available there earlier there than in their own country. Dutch composers as well as musicians of the time were thus ironically more ‘close to the source’ than many of their Italian colleagues. The music that was written by Dutch composers was heavily influenced by the Italian style.