Rooted in bibers longtime employment with the roman catholic church and in the life of the salzburg court in austria, they are rare examples of strictly instrumental sacred music. The rosary mystery sonatas, even today, are considered the most extensive example of scordatura. Apr 16, 2014 the rosary sonatas also known as the mystery sonatas or copperengraving sonatas by heinrich ignaz franz biber are a collection of 15 short sonatas for violin and continuo with a closing. Mystery sonatas rosenkranzsonaten violin basso continuo salzburg 16701675. They are really unlike anything else in the violin literature. They survive in a beautiful manuscript, in which a small engraving depicting one of the fifteen mysteries of the rosary precedes each sonata. Four apollos fire violinists in bibers mystery sonatas. Each has a title related to the christian rosary devotion practice and possibly to the feast of the guardian. The rosary sonatas or mystery sonatas is a collection of 15 sonatas or suites for. Rosary sonatas mystery sonatas by rachel podger on amazon music.
Results 1 10 of 38 this page lists all recordings of passacaglia for violin solo in g minor from mystery sonatas the guardian angel by heinrich ignaz franz. Biber rosenkranz sonaten, the mystery sonatas 1 youtube. In 1684 he became kapellmeister in salzburg, where he died twenty years later. This remarkable set of 15 sonatas is also known as the mystery sonatas for key events in the lives of the virgin mary and christ and the copperengraving sonatas for the engravings at the head of the sonatas.
The rosary sonatas also known as the mystery sonatas or copperengraving sonatas by heinrich ignaz franz biber are a collection of 15 short sonatas for violin and continuo with a closing. Bibers cycle of 15 mystery sonatas essentially an instrumental description of the religiously important events in the lives of christ and mary, from the annunciation to the coronation of the blessed virgin is perhaps the most important body of work for the baroque violin. The eight sonatas which form the bulk of this recording were published by biber in 1681. Joyful mysteries, sorrowful mysteries and glorious mysteries. Not for nothing is podger regarded today as queen of the baroque violin. Mystery sonatas musica antiqua koln reinhard goebel archiv 431 6562 a h2 2 cds contents. This thesis will contend that scordatura is, in fact, fundamental to biber s compositional language within the mystery sonatas, and that his method of deploying it reflects his catholic. The glorious music of heinrich biber the imaginative conservative. There have been four previous recordings of bibers mystery sonatas that i know of but, to date, john holloway with a firstrate continuo group outstrips them all. This was the sonatas on the mysteries of the rosary for violin and figured bass typically played on organ, harpsichord or other chordal.
The rosary sonatas by heinrich ignaz franz biber are a collection of 15 short sonatas for violin. Posted on november 1, 2015 october 30, 2015 by emr2015 posted in recording tagged baroque. Biber is a recent discovery for me, and andrew manzes recording of these sonatas is marvelously beautiful. Each of bibers 15 mystery sonatas is inspired by an event in the lives of jesus and his mother, as depicted in the catholic devotion of the rosary. Chandos records is one of the worlds premier classical music record companies, best known for its ground breaking search for neglected musical gems.
May 3, 1704 was a bohemianaustrian composer and violinist. Previous sheet music next sheet music mystery sonatas, 1, the annunciation heinrich ignaz biber. Heinrich ignaz biber free sheet music to download in pdf, mp3. It is supplemented by a brief survey of guitar transcriptions of bibers compositions, and the value of the present edition in modern guitar literature. Dmitry sinkovsky plays heinrich biber complete mystery sonatas. The rosary sonatas rosenkranzsonaten, also known as the mystery sonatas or copperengraving sonatas by heinrich ignaz franz biber are a collection of 15 short sonatas for violin and continuo, with a final passacaglia for solo violin.
Heinrich ignaz franz bibers rosary sonatas or mystery sonatas were written about 1678 and dedicated to his employer the archbishop of salzburg. The mystery sonatas heinrich bibers three groups of mystery sonatas correspond to the catholic rosarys traditional division into joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries, and these 15 sonatas, closing with a passacaglia, serve as a musical meditation on the christian story. His 15 mystery or rosary sonatas can be dated between 1670 and 1680. Mystery sonatas eduard melkus with scheit, karl, dreyfus, huguette on arkivcd. The musical effects in some of the sonatas are beyond what i would have expected for the composers time period. Try now get a special offer and listen to over 60 million songs, anywhere with amazon music unlimited.
The two most famous works that are heavily reliant on scordatura for special tone colors are the mystery sonatas 15 sonatas on the rosary and harmonia artificiosaariosa, a set of seven partitas for string ensemble. Sheet music violin, basso continuo heinrich ignaz biber. Bibers rosary sonatas for violin and basso continuo stand alone in the violin literature and in music history, offering a unique combination of programmatic material and the use of scordatura tuning a string instrument differently than the standard tuning. The five joyful mysteries sonata i aria, variatio 3. The mystery of the rosary andrew manze richard egarr harmonia mundi usa 9073217322 2 cds other recordings specifically of these sonatas. Rooted in biber s longtime employment with the roman catholic church and in the life of the salzburg court in austria, they are rare examples of strictly instrumental sacred music. Unpublished at his death, these sonatas remain the most popular of all of bibers considerable output. Biber s cycle of 15 mystery sonatas essentially an instrumental description of the religiously important events in the lives of christ and mary, from the annunciation to the coronation of the blessed virgin is perhaps the most important body of work for the baroque violin. The realisation of sonata xi within the volume score pp.
The five joyful mysteries sonata ii sonata the visitation 5. Each sonata employs a different tuning of the violin. Since the earliest recordings of bibers rosenkranz or mystery sonatas made during the 1960s, there has been evergrowing interest in these beautiful pieces and a wealth of recordings. It is supplemented by a brief survey of guitar transcriptions of biber s compositions, and the value of the present edition in modern guitar literature. Biber rosary sonata iv presentation ciacona sheet music. Heinrich ignaz franz biber rosenkranz sonaten 1 disc.
The mystery sonatas heinrich biber s three groups of mystery sonatas correspond to the catholic rosarys traditional division into joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries, and these 15 sonatas, closing with a passacaglia, serve as a musical meditation on the christian story. Sep 22, 2014 heinrich ignaz franz biber rosenkranz sonaten 1 disc. There have been four previous recordings of biber s mystery sonatas that i know of but, to date, john holloway with a firstrate continuo group outstrips them all. In the dedication to his patron, max gandolph, princearchbishop of salzburg, biber explained that the subject of each sonata is a section from the catholic devotion known as the rosary. Though once regarded as exotic repertoire, bibers rosenkranz, rosary or mystery sonatas now have a number of recordings to their name, though some of the best have been deleted or fallen into the downloadonly category, notably the harmonia mundi recording with andrew manze, richard egarr and alison mcgillivray, well worth acquiring from. Born in the small bohemian town of wartenberg now straz pod ralskem, biber worked in graz and kremsier now kromeriz before he illegally left his kremsier employer, princebishop carl liechtensteinkastelkorn, and settled in salzburg. Heinrich ignaz biber free sheet music to download in pdf. This thesis will contend that scordatura is, in fact, fundamental to bibers compositional language within the mystery sonatas, and that his. The company has pioneered the idea of the series and proudly includes series of such composers as prokofiev, tchaikovsky, parry, walton, grainger, berkeley and bridge. The annunciation score mystery sonatas rosenkranzsonaten violin basso continuo salzburg 16701675. Mystery sonatas, group of 15 short sonatas and a passacaglia for violin and basso continuo written by bohemian composer heinrich biber about 1674. This gives them an effect unlike almost anything ive heard, certainly in the classical realm.
The manze recording i referenced was the original romanesca biber sampler they put out in the 1990s. Order from your preferred classical music cd store arkivmusic. Especially in his later years, biber also composed extensive choral music, operas, and sacred music such as the missa. He is, quite simply, more responsive to essential details in.
The rerelease of his set of biber s mystery read more sonatas complete with the passacaglia for solo violin therefore provides an opportunity to judge the straw man on his own merits rather than simply dismiss him as an exemplar of a distasteful trend. They represent the best of his violin writing as judged by biber himself. The passacaglia is the crown jewel of the collection of sonatas known as the rosary sonatas. Passacaille, sonates du known as scordaturathe first sonata and the final passacaglia alone employ the. Heinrich ignaz franz biber 12 august 1644 3 may 1704 was a bohemianaustrian composer and violinist. This remarkable set of 15 sonatas is also known as the mystery.
The composer and master violinist heinrich biber answered this question in the affirmative back in the 1670s with a set of 16 violin works 15 sonatas with continuo and a solo passacaglia meant to take the musicians through the mysteries of the rosary. A more modern performance by andrew manze clocked in at 10. Is it possible to take the standard song and dance forms of your time and turn them into virtuosic devotional meditations on the life of christ. This talk was written by james clements, and draws on the research indertaken as part of his doctoral thesis on aspecy of rhetoric in the violin music of heinrich biber. In the manuscript the 15 mystery sonatas are followed by a passacaglia in g minor for unaccompanied violin. In studying scor datura technique, one is soon attracted to the mystery sonatas because of the multiplicity of tunings found in them. It preceded a performance of all of bibers mystery sonatas by pavlo beznosiuk. Joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries respectively. The music of biber has enjoyed a renaissance, in part, because of the rosary sonatas. We and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. The second section explores the process and challenges of arranging the mystery sonatas for solo guitar, followed by a. These groundbreaking 16 violin sonatas, also known as the rosary or mystery sonatas, are made up of 15 sonatas depicting each of the traditional mysteries of the rosary, all of which are scored for violin with accompaniment in this edition, piano. Parent faq site history pdf postscript pdf postscript.
Finished probably in 1676, the bulk of the pieces are violin sonatas on the 15. Biber furthermore disposes the sonatas into three groups of five. Theyre sometimes known as the rosary sonatas, for the mysteries involved are the socalled mysteries of the rosary, episodes from the life of christ that furnish material for meditative prayers undertaken with the devotional aid of rosary prayer beads. Performing heinrich bibers mystery sonatas on solo guitar. The rosary sonatas daskalakis, ensemble vintage cologne. The mystery or rosary sonatas constitute one of the virtuoso high points of the baroque violin literature, as in addition to the daring technical and contrapuntal demands of bibers writing, each sonata employs a different tuning of the violins strings, known as scordatura the first sonata and the final passacaglia alone employ the standard violin tuning. Of his many violin sonatas, the sixteen so called mystery or rosary sonatas exist as the pinnacle of his written output. These works are referred to as, among other things, the rosary or mystery sonatas.
Rosary sonatas gramophone awards winner 2016 by rachel. Biber was the foremost violinist and composer for the violin of the early baroque period. Rosary sonatas mystery sonatas by rachel podger on. In describing some of the difficulties of performing bibers sonatas from the original edition. The mystery sonatas by maya homburger with camerata kilkenny, released 19 november 2006 1. The mystery or rosary sonatas constitute one of the virtuoso high points of the baroque violin literature, as in addition to the daring technical and contrapuntal demands of biber s writing, each sonata employs a different tuning of the violins strings, known as scordatura the first sonata and the final passacaglia alone employ the standard violin tuning. Mystery sonatas, also called rosary sonatas or copperplate engraving sonatas, group of 15 short sonatas and a passacaglia for violin and basso continuo written by bohemian composer heinrich biber about 1674. Rooted in bibers longtime employment with the roman catholic church and in the life of the salzburg court in austria, they are rare examples of.
Penetrating the mysteries preconcert talk given at the purcell room at 4pm on sunday 15th april 2003, delivered by philip picket. Four apollos fire violinists in bibers mystery sonatas feb. From the italian discordare meaning out of tune, scordatura is a technique whereby the strings are purposefully tuned differently from their usual arrangement. Manze would go on to record biber s mystery sonatas as one of his last baroque recordings with richard egarr. Each has a title related to the christian rosary devotion practice and possibly to the feast of the guardian angels it is presumed that the mystery sonatas. C 77, fantasia c 90 c 105, 15 mystery rosary sonatas and passagalia for solo violin. Manze would go on to record bibers mystery sonatas as one of his last baroque recordings with richard egarr. Biber john holloway, davitt moroney, tragicomedia the. The five joyful mysteries sonata i praeludium the annunciation 2. Print and download in pdf or midi sonate du rosaire n4. Either way, they are unforgettable, being composed in the scordatura style, where the instrument is mistuned for all but the opening and closing pieces.
654 336 514 962 946 455 1492 157 966 632 235 1562 424 393 124 419 322 78 1227 1534 192 1366 1495 1078 1252 670 682 429 796 638 396 915 1296 1421 893 581 39