Biber: The Mystery Sonatas
Sonatas 1 - 15 & Passacaglia

 

Walter Reiter with Cordaria

-  Two CD Set  -

"thoughtful, reflective and poetic .... his performances are stylish, idiomatic and vivid" - Nicholas Anderson, BBC Music Magazine
   

"a beautifully judged performance" Lindsay Kemp, Gramophone 
       

"The performances are astounding, the variety of bow strokes, the ornamentation of repeats, the occasional colouring of the violins sound - it's simply wonderful .... This is my recommendation for the month" - Brian Clarke, Early Music Review
   

" ... there are many extraordinary moments" - Luis Gago, Goldberg

This two disc set of Heinrich von Biber's Rosary or Mystery Sonatas presents the complete set of fifteen sonatas and the concluding passacaglia which appears in the sole surviving Munich manuscript.

The sonatas each correspond to the fifteen mysteries or meditations on the life of Christ. The meditations are traditionally grouped into three groups of five; Joyful - his early life, Sorrowful - his passion; Glorious - his ressurection.

In writing the sonatas Biber uses scordatura, tuning the strings to a different set of notes for each sonata. This  achieves technical feats impossible with normal tuning and results in different sonorities resulting from the varying amounts of pressure from the strings and achieving the different desired mood for each sonata. For the violinist, this involves a constant contradiction between sight and sound, for what he sees is not be what he hears!

Walter Reiter's recording of the Mystery Sonatas is the culmination of a seven year labour of love and is in his own words, is his "most powerfully artistic experience to date".

  
Title Page
Programme Notes
Commentaire
Kommentar
Reviews
Credits
Download pdf flyer
Cordaria
 
Release date: 17th September 2001
Order code: SIGCD021
Barcode: 635212002124
 
 
 
— Disc 1 —
Sonata no. 1 (The Annunciation)
1 Praeludium [2:56]
2 Variatie [2:26]
3 untitled [1:29]
Sonata no. 2 (The Visitation)
4 untitled [1:35]
5 Allaman
 [2:13]
6 Presto [0:48]
Sonata no. 3 (The Nativity)
7 untitled [1:59]
8 Courente [2:54]
9 Adagio [2:24]
Sonata no. 4 (The Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple)
10 Ciacona [8:59]
Sonata no. 5 (The Twelve-Year-Old Jesus in the Temple)
11 Praeludium [1:36]
12 Allaman [1:22]
13 Gigue [1:07]
14 Saraban [2:11]
Sonata no. 6 (Christ on the Mount of Olives)
15 Lamento [9:56]
Sonata no. 7 (The Scourging at the Pillar)
16 Allamanda [3:31]
17 Sarab: Variatio [5:15]
Sonata no. 8 (The Crown of Thorns)
18 untitled [3:23]
19 Gigue & Double Presto, Double [4:26]
Sonata no. 9 Jesus carries the cross
20 untitled [3:02]
21 Courente, Double [3:45]
22 Finale [1:49]
Total running time: [69:36]
— Disc 2 —
Sonata no. 10 (The Crucifixion)
1 Praeludium [1:26]
2 Aria [1:46]
3 Variatio [5:25]
4 Variatio
 [2:07]
Sonata no. 11 (The Resurrection)
5 untitled [10:45]
Sonata no. 12 (The Ascension)
6 Intrada [0:48]
7 Aria Tubicinum [1:26]
8 Allamanda [2:03]
9 Courente
Sonata no. 13 (Pentecost)
10 untitled [5:01]
11 Gavott [1:46]
12 Gigue [1:35]
13 Sarabanda [0:55]
Sonata no. 14 (The Assumption of the Virgin)
14 untitled [3:56]
15 Aria, Aria, Gigue [6:34]
Sonata no. 15 (The Beatification of the Virgin)
16 untitled [1:40]
17 Aria [4:45]
18 Canzon [1:43]
19 Sarabanda [2:16]
 
20 Passacaglia [10:55]
Total running time: [69:03]

 
 

 

 [images/index.htm] 01 June 2008