Heinrich Ignaz Franz BIBER

 

The Rosary Sonatas

 

The Five Joyful Mysteries (Sonatas I-V),

The Five Sorrowful Mysteries (Sonatas VI-X),

The Five Glorious Mysteries (Sonatas XI-XV), Passagalia,

Scordatura - a brief demonstration

 

Andrew Manze (violin); Richard Egarr (organ and harpsichord); Alison McGillivray (cello Sonata XII)

 

The Rosary Sonatas is one of the most unusual collections of violin music ever assembled and it is this work on which the fame of H.I.F. Biber (1644-1704) rests today. 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 meet this challenge with dazzling results.

 

Harmonia Mundi 2cds HMU907321-22