FUROR MUSICUS was founded by Antoinette in 2008. The group has released several recordings: transcriptions of works by J.S. Bach, among them Antoinette’s reconstruction of a J.S. Bach viola concerto; the violin sonatas opus 1 & 2 by the Dutch baroque composer Jacob Nozeman; and the critically acclaimed Phantasia Musica album (2017), featuring previously unknown 17th-century repertoire. Phantasia Musica scored a 10 with distinction in the Dutch classical music magazine Luister, 5 stars in the Dutch daily de Volkskrant and an A in the Italian magazine Amadeus. The ensemble is primarily devoted to performing and recording little-known 17th- and 18th-century repertoire on period instruments and carrying out the necessary historical research. The performers wish to guard against simply going with the flow of traditions that have developed over the past decades within the historically informed performance movement. There is still so much fantastic repertoire that has been unjustly neglected and never performed, and they view it as an important challenge to immerse themselves in previously unheard repertoire and to avoid being influenced by other performances. The name Furor Musicus derives from the term Furor Poeticus, a Latin expression often used to refer to poetic inspiration in ancient Greek and Roman literature. The word ‘furor’ refers to a state of intense excitement, in some cases even bordering on madness. The term Furor Poeticus refers to the capacity to be inspired and inspire others. Poetic inspiration is often described as a state in which the poet is the passive and unconscious mouthpiece of a higher power, but in fact, there was an equal emphasis on craft and inspiration throughout antiquity. It was the same with music of the 17th and 18th centuries.
