Patrick Denecker is a Belgian recorder player who mainly focuses on performing and researching early music scores.
As a recorder player he logically ends up in the world of so-called 'historical' music performance, but according to him this should not be limited to Renaissance, Baroque or Classical. Every style, however recent, has its own zeitgeist and habits that can be studied.
As far as possible, he uses the most appropriate instruments for the chosen music. In this way he tries to empathize better with the world in which the compositions originated. Music also must remain a creation of the moment itself, without compromising on invention and fantasy and therefore ‘ancient' or ‘historic' are relative terms, especially with something ephemeral like music. Can one speak of ancient art when an old score is played? No, because it sounds now. Still, this makes it even more interesting to explore how a composition sounded when it was created and in what circumstances. In any case, personal freedom remains the most important to embark on this quest which is fascinating and leads to surprising results and will always differ from person to person and from moment to moment.
Patrick Denecker is founder of the ensembles LA CACCIA and REDHERRING.
In these formations, which have a very variable composition, he plays all kinds of recorders and old reeds.