Composer: Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
Performer: Andrew Manze, Richard Egarr, Alison McGillivray
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Catalogue: HMG507321
Release: 2016
Size: 670 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
CD 01
Mystery Sonata No. 1 in D Minor ‘The Annunciation’
01. I. Praeludium
02. II. Aria, Variatio
03. III. Finale
Mystery Sonata No. 2 in A Major ‘The Visitation’
04. I. Sonata
05. II. Allamanda
06. III. Finale
Mystery Sonata No. 3 in B Minor ‘The Nativity’
07. I. Sonata
08. II. Courente, Double
09. III. Finale
10. Mystery Sonata No. 4 in D Minor ‘The Presentation in the Temple’
Mystery Sonata No. 5 in A Major ‘The Finding in the Temple’
11. I. Praeludium
12. II. Allamanda
13. III. Guigue
14. IV. Sarabanda, Double
15. Mystery Sonata No. 6 in C Minor ‘The Agony in the Garden’
Mystery Sonata No. 7 in F Major ‘The Scourging of Jesus’
16. I. Allamanda, Variatio
17. II. Sarabanda, Variatio
Mystery Sonata No. 8 in B-Flat Major ‘The Crowning with Thorns’
18. I. Sonata
19. II. Guigue, Double 1 & 2
Mystery Sonata No. 9 in A Minor ‘Jesus Carrying the Cross’
20. I. Sonata
21. II. Courente, Double
22. III. Finale
CD 02
Mystery Sonata No. 10 in G Minor ‘The Crucifixion’
01. I. Praeludium
02. II. Aria
03. III. Variatio
Mystery Sonata No. 11 in G Major ‘The Resurrection’
04. I. Sonata
05. II. Surexit Christus hodie
06. III. Adagio
Mystery Sonata No. 12 in C Major ‘The Ascension’
07. I. Intrada
08. II. Aria Tubicinum
09. III. Allamanda
10. IV. Courente, Double
Mystery Sonata No. 13 in D Minor ‘The Descent of the Holy Ghost’
11. I. Sonata
12. II. Gavotta
13. III. Guigue
14. IV. Sarabanda
Mystery Sonata No. 14 in D Major ‘The Assumption of the Virgin’
15. I. [Sonata]
16. II. Aria
Mystery Sonata No. 15 in C Major ‘The Coronation of the Virgin’
17. I. Sonata
18. II. Aria. [Variatio]
19. III. Canzona
20. IV. Sarabanda. [Double]
21. Passacaglia for violin solo in G minor (from Mystery Sonatas)
22. Scordatura briefly explained
The ‘Rosary’ Sonatas are one of the most unusual collections of violin music ever assembled and it is these works on which Biber’s present-day fame rests. Calling for a different violin tuning, scordatura, in each of the 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.
Andrew Manze plays a violin by Amati, 1700; bow by Gerhard Landwehr, Heemstede, 1988, after an Italian model.