ABSTRACT
Athanasius Kircher S. J. awareness of a manifestation of such order in composition is evidenced by references in the Musurgia to pieces that exhibit perfection, the polymath also noting that composers could successfully penetrate 'the hidden depths of music', as in the case of his friend, Johann Hieronymus Kapsberger. The genres chosen by Kircher as representative of the stylus phantasticus, namely the fantasia, 'ricercata', toccata, and sonata, were products of a composer's imagination or 'fantasy', and being purely instrumental works, were free of any association with text or dance type. Some similarities between Morley's description of the fantasy and Kircher's later account of the fantastic style are immediately apparent. The variety exhibited in the fantasia, whether that resulting from its range of contrapuntal techniques, its contrasting metres, rhythmic movement, or what has been called its 'melodic exuberance and virtuosity', doubtless held particular attraction for Kircher.
