Biber: Mystery Sonatas (Sonaty Różańcowe)

Ensemble Violini Capricciosi;
Ruhadze, Igor

95291

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber may not have invented the technique of scordatura – the retuning of violin strings for a particular piece – but he certainly mastered it. During the Baroque period, the instrument's tuning was more flexible than today, and Biber's patron, Prince-Bishop Karl of Olomouc, was particularly fond of the technique that offered a world of possibilities in sound colours and polyphonic effects. Almost all of the 15 Mystery (or Rosary) Sonatas, which depict each of the 'mysteries' or events from the lives of Christ and Mary, require some kind of scordatura, offering unusually resonant chord-playing and polyphonic writing. The 11th sonata ('The Resurrection') even calls for the strings to be crossed over, evoking the cross of Christ as it utilises the melody of the hymn Surrexit Christus Hodie.

CD x 5

Muzyka klasyczna

Brilliant Classics

13-11-2019

5028421952918