Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber's Rosary Sonatas were written in Salzburg in the 1670s or 1680s, and they're really unlike anything else in the violin literature. Scordatura, or unconventional tuning of an instrument's strings, was common enough during the Baroque era, but Biber's cycle of 15 pieces for violin and continuo explores the technique exhaustively: each of the 15 sonatas uses a different tuning. The result is music of fearsome difficulty for the player, and, as with Bach's best music, technical complexity generates spiritual intensity. Each sonata represents one of the Mysteries of the Catholic Rosary, which are divided into five Joyful Mysteries (the Annunciation, for example), five Sorrowful Mysteries (concluding with Christ's crucifixion), and five Glorious Mysteries (centered on the Resurrection and on Mary's Assumption). Some of the tunings are downright outlandish; as the music reaches its spiritual climax in the "Resurrection" sonata, Biber specifies that the violin be played with its two central strings crossed, perhaps to symbolize the meeting of heaven and earth or the Cross of the Crucifixion itself.
The sheer individuality of the Rosary Sonatas has made them increasingly popular in recent years, and violinists have in turn taken sharply differing approaches to them. The distinctive feature of this set by Ukrainian-Irish violinist Pavlo Beznosiuk is his attempt to place the music deep into its original context, with notes by James Clements explaining the roots of Biber's work in an Austrian university fraternity devoted to the Rosary. The most obvious result of this performance philosophy is that each sonata is prefaced by a spoken reading (by Timothy West) of a relevant text, taken from one of three old Rosary psalters. This will be either spiritually enlightening or extremely off-putting, depending on your point of view. Beznosiuk himself, playing on a variety of Baroque violins, ably sets a mystical tone; in his own notes he refers to Zen Buddhism, so this is plainly not intended as some kind of Catholic tract in music.
The nicest feature of this recording is the three-person continuo accompaniment, which offers evocatively shifting colors as each of the three players switches between pairs of closely related instruments. Keyboardist David Roblou plays a harpsichord and a very nifty chamber organ. Paula Chateauneuf alternates between theorbo and archlute, instruments that blend beautifully with Roblou's organ and deep-voiced harpsichord. Finally, Richard Tunnicliffe plays both a viola da gamba and the much less often-heard violone. Avie's sound engineering is very well attuned to what's happening here. Violinists and continuo players will want to hear this disc regardless of whether they own a set of Rosary beads.
© TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From €13,50/month
Les Sonates du Rosaire (Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber)
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
DISC 2
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Composer - Paula Chateauneuf, Choir, MainArtist - Pavlo Beznosiuk, Band, MainArtist - Richard Tunnicliffe, Band, MainArtist - David Roblou, Band, MainArtist
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Album review
Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber's Rosary Sonatas were written in Salzburg in the 1670s or 1680s, and they're really unlike anything else in the violin literature. Scordatura, or unconventional tuning of an instrument's strings, was common enough during the Baroque era, but Biber's cycle of 15 pieces for violin and continuo explores the technique exhaustively: each of the 15 sonatas uses a different tuning. The result is music of fearsome difficulty for the player, and, as with Bach's best music, technical complexity generates spiritual intensity. Each sonata represents one of the Mysteries of the Catholic Rosary, which are divided into five Joyful Mysteries (the Annunciation, for example), five Sorrowful Mysteries (concluding with Christ's crucifixion), and five Glorious Mysteries (centered on the Resurrection and on Mary's Assumption). Some of the tunings are downright outlandish; as the music reaches its spiritual climax in the "Resurrection" sonata, Biber specifies that the violin be played with its two central strings crossed, perhaps to symbolize the meeting of heaven and earth or the Cross of the Crucifixion itself.
The sheer individuality of the Rosary Sonatas has made them increasingly popular in recent years, and violinists have in turn taken sharply differing approaches to them. The distinctive feature of this set by Ukrainian-Irish violinist Pavlo Beznosiuk is his attempt to place the music deep into its original context, with notes by James Clements explaining the roots of Biber's work in an Austrian university fraternity devoted to the Rosary. The most obvious result of this performance philosophy is that each sonata is prefaced by a spoken reading (by Timothy West) of a relevant text, taken from one of three old Rosary psalters. This will be either spiritually enlightening or extremely off-putting, depending on your point of view. Beznosiuk himself, playing on a variety of Baroque violins, ably sets a mystical tone; in his own notes he refers to Zen Buddhism, so this is plainly not intended as some kind of Catholic tract in music.
The nicest feature of this recording is the three-person continuo accompaniment, which offers evocatively shifting colors as each of the three players switches between pairs of closely related instruments. Keyboardist David Roblou plays a harpsichord and a very nifty chamber organ. Paula Chateauneuf alternates between theorbo and archlute, instruments that blend beautifully with Roblou's organ and deep-voiced harpsichord. Finally, Richard Tunnicliffe plays both a viola da gamba and the much less often-heard violone. Avie's sound engineering is very well attuned to what's happening here. Violinists and continuo players will want to hear this disc regardless of whether they own a set of Rosary beads.
© TiVo
About the album
- 2 disc(s) - 33 track(s)
- Total length: 02:36:47
- Main artist: Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Composer: Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Label: Avie Records
- Genre: Classical
(C) 2006 AVIE Records (P) 2006 AVIE Records
Improve album informationWhy buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.