Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber
Mystery Rosary Sonatas [and Passacaglia for solo violin]
Year: 1674
Mystery Sonata No. 11 in G major, The Resurrection: I. Sonata
Introduction: The most unusual feature of this sonata is its scordatura. For the Resurrection in G major, Heinrich Biber requires the four strings of the violin to be tuned to two G’s an octave apart and two D’s an octave apart. And he requires that the two inner strings be reversed, crossed over, which destroys the normal upward progression of the open strings and demands a whole new mental and physical approach to putting the right finger, in the right place, on the right string. The notation system Biber uses for this is simple in its logic but devastating in practice. And the symbolism of the crossed strings shouts at us across the three hundred and fifty years since The Resurrection Sonata was written. The two inner strings are crossed over between the tailpiece and the bridge, then they must be crossed back again at the other end, in the peg box. This gives two crosses between the strings. And a third cross is implied by the right angle between the bow and the strings. Three crosses - the Holy Trinity - or Christ and two thieves crucified on Calvary.
Heinrich Biber (1644-1704)
Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber born 1644 in Wartenberg is an Austro-Czech baroque violinist and composer. He received his musical training from the Austrian composer and choirmaster Johann Heinrich Schmelzer. Heinrich Biber held posts in Olmütz and Kremsier, in Moravia, before being appointed Kapellmeister to the Prince-Bishop of Salzburg in 1684. A virtuoso violinist, Biber is also a distinguished composer, capable of creating all kinds of musical works. For his merits as a violinist and composer, he was knighted by Emperor Leopold I and could therefore be called « Biber von Bibern ». His violin playing was probably influenced, on the one hand, by the Italian tradition of Marco Uccelini and Carlo Farina, and on the other hand, by the then emerging German polyphonic tradition represented by Johann Heinrich Schmelzer. The composer's contributions include advances in violin technique, he was able to reach 6th and 7th positions, and his left hand and bowing techniques were far more advanced than those of contemporary Italian composers. In some of his works, Heinrich Biber uses « scordatura », a technique of playing out of tune. We decrease or increase the tension of one or more strings of the instrument, in order to create the illusion of an instrument using different chords generating unusual sound effects.
This way of tuning the violin allows you to play with baroque instruments as with modern instruments but with a technique which will be developed later, in the 19th century, on two, three or four strings. No other violinist before him had used so much playing on two or three strings simultaneously. Thus, he managed to play in seventh position effortlessly, a technique which Arcangelo Corelli considered impossible at that time. The Mysteries sonatas (Rosary Sonatas), in which we find 15 different ways of tuning the violin, constitute a fine example of this technique. This collection is one of the pinnacles of Biber's work. Expressionist, lyrical, fervent, meditative, this music suggests important contrasts and allows, behind the technical challenge, several levels of reading. As a composer, he worked in the field of opera and in that of sacred vocal works, leaving here significant scores such as his Requiem or his Missa Bruxellensis. He also composed three cycles of 12 sonatas as well as a corpus « Sonatae tam aris quam aulis servientes » for six to eight instruments. And finally, La Sonata representativa in which various bird songs and animal cries are imitated. Biber still proves to be a precursor of the virtuosic effects found in French harpsichord music, from Couperin to Rameau and Daquin, then in certain works by Vivaldi. This trend would still be followed by Liszt, Ravel, Enesco, Bartók and many others in the 19th century.
Lucien
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