Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687) was an extraordinary man. As a diplomat and secretary of two stadhouders of the Netherlands he was very involved in development of the Netherlands as an independent state. But he was much more. Huygens was a scientist, architect, poet, musician, composer, and …. a perfumer.
Dr Ineke Huysman, historian, and the baroque ensemble La Sfera Armoniosa present a series of stunning musical performances in words, images, sound and scent about the work, discoveries and adventures of this extraordinary 17th-century man. The nature of Huygens “forced” us to develop various programmes in which we give a different perspective on the man and his times.
Scientific discoveries, a strong European network and more than 800 compositions
Constantijn Huygens, secretary to three Princes of Orange, was one of Hollands most important poets and musicians. When Constantijn Huygens died at the age of 90, he had written thousands of poems, owned more than 50 musical instruments and had composed more than 800 pieces! Most of his poems and song texts are about love and from his letters we learn that also in real life he was an expert on the subject…
Although almost all of his music got lost during the last centuries, fortunately we still have a beautiful collection of songs: ‘Pathodia Sacra et Profana’, and one instrumental piece for the viola da gamba. Huygens could play five different instruments but his favorite ones were the theorbo and the viola da gamba.
In the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 season several concerts and a tour are planned in The Netherlands and abroad. Please contact us for more information.