We are Musica Poetica, an Early Music (Baroque and Classical) Orchestra based in The Netherlands. We have come to Steemit to try and find a new audience and possibly a novel new funding stream.

Audiences for Classical Music is in decline. Part of the problem is that audiences are forced to come to concert halls at appointed times, and are subjected to traditional rules of silence and non-interaction. These rules are particularly intimidating for newcomers and the curious, and leads to the idea that Classical Music is for the elite and is not to be enjoyed. Perhaps it is time for musicians to find new ways of connecting to our audience, instead of blaming the audience for their lack of interest.

Funding for Classical Music across the world is in decline, and orchestras are notoriously old-fashioned in seeking ways to continue funding themselves. Generally, this boils down to finding patrons or government subsidies. Unfortunately, the strategy of winning these funding streams tend to have more to do with politics and "who you know", instead of a clear-eyed assessment of artistic merit. As a young orchestra, we are looking for ways to get around these problems whilst hoping to present our music to larger and more diverse audience.

Hopefully, we can find a comfortable home in the Steemit ecosystem and we look forward to entertaining you. Below, you can read more about what makes us tick as an ensemble.

OUR VISION

„Musica Poetica is that discipline of music which teaches how to compose a musical composition […] in order to sway the hearts and spirits of individuals into various dispositions.“ (Joachim Burmeister, 1606).

The ‘Early Music’ or ‘Historical Performance Practice’ movement strives for a historically appropriate style of performance on the basis of surviving scores, treatises, instruments and other contemporary evidence. While, to begin with, it mainly concentrated on performing repertoire from Renaissance and Baroque, today the movement has spread to include Classical and Romantic repertoires. Although, initially, the movement was small and clearly distinct from the conventional classical music scene, some early-music conventions have been widely accepted and absorbed by the mainstream classical music market during the last two decades. However, in the same process musicians have lost interest in research and experiment and formed a mainstream of historically informed performance practice, which heavily relies on established clichés of ‘historical’ practices.

The ensemble Musica Poetica swims against this tide and strives to renew the radicalism of the movement’s first decades.

Boysen is convinced that the best possible understanding of the music from this time and its different styles, as well as a high technical standard of playing, will lead to convincing and stirring performances. Thus, he combines results from his own research and experiments with interesting repertoire and a distinct musicality.
Audience response during and after live performances, and the number of very positive reviews of Musica Poetica’s work seem to confirm Boysen’s belief that critical research of historical sources, analysis of the works and adequate rehearsal periods are not simply boring theory exercises, but rather help to communicate with the audience.

The group is composed of musicians from all over the world who specialise in Early Music, having completed their studies in the conservatories of the Netherlands. They share an interest in performing music from the 17th and 18th centuries from an historically informed perspective, using instruments from that period and informed by historical sources. The size of the group is flexible and depends on the chosen programme. It performes as a chamber group as well as an orchestra including choir.

In 2015, Musica Poetica started her own concert series at the Koninklijke Schouwburg (Royal Theatre) in Den Haag. This series was so successful that the musicians were invited to continue the series in season 16-17 with a twofold amount of performances.

The group’s performance schedule so far has included concerts and live radio broadcasts in Germany, France, Spain, Czech Republic and the Netherlands. Musica Poetica performs regularly in festivals and concerts around Europe such as the Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, Festival Mitte Europa, International Buxtehude Festival Lübeck, Itinéraire Baroque and the Holland Festival Oude Muziek.
The group also appeared in theater productions of the O.T. Opera Rotterdam (Orfeo Intermezzi, 2005), the Utrechtse Spelen (Molière’s/Charpentier’s Imaginary Invalid, 2009 and 2011) and Opéra Mosset in France.

Musica Poetica has recorded several CDs with music from the Düben Collection, works by Christian Flor and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.