During the 17th and 18th centuries, both composers and their audiences were very well aware of the different national styles which thrived simultaneously in France, Germany, Italy, and England. Though there were mutual influences, mostly one could recognize a composition’s origin, right from the very beginning of the piece. This is how, around 1720, a very influential German theoretician defined the four national styles: the Italians love the music, the French turn music into their maîtresse, the Germans study music and the English pay best for musicians, wherever they come from.

Italian virtuosity and emotionality, French charm and elegance, German somewhat heavy seriousness, English cosmopolitanism: we let you discover and taste all of it. And in Flanders, the mixed Italian-German-French character of De Croes’s concerto reflects our geographical position: a small but fascinating region on the crossroads of Europe.