We feel very privileged that our home for the 'Ceci n'est pas un concert series' is the Hofwijck, the country estate of Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687), Dutch diplomat, scholar, scientist, amateur musician and composer, poet, and art connoisseur.
In August 1644, Huygens received a letter from Jacob van Eyck (1589/90-1657), carillon player, organist, recorder virtuoso, and composer, accompanying a copy of Van Eyck's Euterpe oft Speel-goddinne, which had just been published.
Huygens and Van Eyck were actually second cousins, and in his letter, Van Eyck asked Huygens to review his Euterpe, in view of a reprint which came in the revised edition renamed Der Fluyten Lust-hof, which was dedicated to Huygens.
This collection is famous nowadays among recorder players, but the Psalms which make up a considerable part of the collection are more seldom heard. These Psalms from the Genevan Psalter were sung in church and sounded from Dutch carillons of the time, so their melodies were very well-known. In our second non-concert, among other things, you'll hear a Psalm, wonderfully contemplative in character, with diminutions by Van Eyck.
As you see, our non-concerts will be made up of not only wonderful music, but also of a world of other inspiring things, many directly related to the music, as what you just read, but also several seemingly unrelated but still relevant to us. Did you spot some of these nonsense references in our campaign video? ;)