Biber: The Rosary Sonatas (Mystery Sonatas) - CD

The Rosary Sonatas is one of the most unusual collections of violin music ever assembled and it is this work on which Biber's present-day fame rests. Calling for a different violin tuning (scordatura) in each of its 15 Sonatas - all played here on the same Amati instrument - the full set is a triumph of Baroque invention and 17th-century virtuoso style. The Gramophone Award winning partnership of Andrew Manze and Richard Egarr meets this challenge with dazzling results.

The fifteen Mystery (Rosary) Sonatas by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber form a fascinating cyclical work. The use of fourteen different violin tunings (scordaturas), deviating from the instrument’s normal tuning in fifths, makes the sonata cycle unique in the history of the violin. Each sonata is prefaced by a copperplate medallion depicting an event from the life of Mary and her son Jesus.

Biber took the pictures from a Rosary Brotherhood document (included with the generously documented CD) and they formed part of the neatly handwritten dedication to prince archbishop Maximilian Gandolph Count of Kuenburg (in office from 1668 to 1687). Biber was acknowledged as a gifted violinist and composer in his own lifetime. Born in northern Bohemia in 1644, he moved to Salzburg, where he was court kapellmeister, composing quantities of secular and sacred works. Kaiser Leopold I elevated Biber to the nobility in 1690. In his petition for noble rank, Biber referred to having given proof of his ability in Linz and Lambach with Violino soli for the emperor, with whom 'his playing had graciously found favour. Annegret Siedel, artistic director of the Bell’arte Salzburg ensemble, which specializes in early music from Salzburg, has recorded the Mystery Sonatas on nine different violins of the 17th and 18th centuries. She succeeds in wonderfully bringing out the sacred character of the music, particularly in its meditative passages, without falling short of the music’s high technical demands.

Passion, excitement, sorrow, and celebration all fill the room with this new exciting release of Biber: Mystery Sonatas by Julia Wedman. Though the Mystery Sonatas (also called the Rosary Sonatas) weren’t discovered until the late 19th century, these master works of violin virtuosity that employs extensive scordutura (multiple tunings) for the performer have become a favorite of Baroque Music lovers and violinists the world over. After 2 years of research leading up to the recording, Ms. Wedman has brought a new life and impassioned vision to these works.

“Of the violin players of the last century,” wrote the 18th-century historian Charles Burney, “Biber seems to have been the best, and his solos are the most difficult and most fanciful of any music I have seen of the same period.” Over 200 years later, scholars, audiences and performers still agree with him. Heinrich Franz Ignaz Biber, (1644-1704) was one of the most unique violin virtuosi of the late seventeenth-century. While he composed numerous vocal works, including operas, masses and cantatas, he is most notable today for his brilliant instrumental works, specifically solo violin works and chamber music.

Heinrich Biber’s enigmatic sixteen Rosary/Mystery Sonatas have captivated audiences and violinists since they were first discovered in the late 19th century. Biber wrote in his dedication page to the Archbishop Maximilian Gandolph von Khuenberg that he “consecrated these sonatas to the most glorious mysteries which you hold so highly.”

But it is the unique feature of scordatura— the complete re-tuning of the violin—that sets the Rosary/Mystery Sonatas apart. While this practice had been used in violin music before, it is in the Mystery Sonatas that Biber takes this technique to a level that had never been seen before, or ever again. Of the sixteen sonatas in the set, fourteen feature this radical technique. Each new re-tuning of the violin sonically transforms the instrument as the violinist and audience experiences new aural effects. With each sonata, Biber creates in the violin an analogy to the ancient metaphor that the human body itself is a string instrument, resonating with the voice of God.

Originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canadian violinist Julia Wedman was invited to join the internationally renowned Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (www.tafelmusik.org) in 2005. She quickly developed a reputation for her solo performances with the ensemble and is frequently showcased on Tafelmusik’s recordings as well as their home concert series in Toronto. Julia has played concertos with the group on tours throughout Canada, the U.S.A., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Europe, China and Korea. Julia is a member of the innovative young baroque ensemble I Furiosi (www.ifuriosi.com), whose CD Crazy is also available on Dorian Sono Luminus. She is also one quarter of the Eybler Quartet (www.eyblerquartet.com), a period instrument ensemble that specializes in music of the classical era, and are champions of excellent but underrated composers. As a part of the Aradia Baroque Ensemble and Toronto Camerata under the direction of Kevin Mallon, Julia also recorded many CDs available on Naxos. Ms. Wedman plays a Hendrick Jacobs violin made in Amsterdam in 1694.

This album whose stellar performance is matched with extensive scholarly notes as well as Ms. Wedman’s descriptions of her personal vision for each of the sonatas is the perfect choice for lovers of baroque performance, virtuosic violin music, and a wonderful gift for the Easter season.

Biber unquestionably ranks with the leading masters of the 17th century. His Rosary, or Mystery sonatas – fifteen sonatas for violin and continuo portraying the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, and a long passacaglia for solo violin – constitute one of the virtuoso high points of the Baroque violin literature. On this recording Daniel Sepec presents an authentic interpretation of Biber’s famed sonata cycle on original violins made by Jakob Stainer.

Performed on original violins made by Jakob Stainer (c1617-1683)

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644 – 1704) was also a musical visionary, whose intimate knowledge of the violin enabled him to explore new spiritual dimensions. The Rosary Sonatas were written as meditations in music, focusing on the 15 ‘mysteries’ which have traditionally formed the basis of the Catholic prayer life.

Bohemian Catholic composer Heinrich Biber was arguably the most distinguished 17th century composer of instrumental music for the church. His output was not extensive but it was extraordinary, especially his best-known opus, The Rosary Sonatas of the 1670s. Depicting the 15 mysteries of the rosary, these works are remarkable for their vivid programmatic nature, the use of extended techniques such as scordatura (retuning of the violin strings), and virtuostic writing (Biber himself was an accomplished violinist).

Pavlo Beznosiuk, who has been described as a virtuostic artist with “star quality” whose “playing is full of fantasy”, is joined by an ensemble of England’s leading period-instrument performers. Avie's version is unique for its inclusion of the spoken texts which would have been read during Rosary devotions in the 1670s, here eloquently delivered by well-known television and stage actor Timothy West.