Sono Luminus
Biber: Mystery Sonatas / Julia Wedman
$26.99
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Details
- Composer
- HEINRICH VON BIBER
- Artist
- Julia Wedman
- Format
- CD
- Label
- Sono Luminus
- Released
- Feb 22, 2011
- Catalog #
- DSL-92127
- UPC
- 053479212726
About
Passion, excitement, sorrow, and celebration all fill the room with this new exciting release of Biber: Mystery Sonatas by Julia Wedman. Though the Mystery Sonatas (also called the Rosary Sonatas) weren’t discovered until the late 19th century, these master works of violin virtuosity that employs extensive scordutura (multiple tunings) for the performer have become a favorite of Baroque Music lovers and violinists the world over. After 2 years of research leading up to the recording, Ms. Wedman has brought a new life and impassioned vision to these works.
R E V I E W S:
The music sparkles, and the liner notes are both visually appealing and extremely informative, with comprehensive historic description as well as Julia’s musical impressions of each of the 16 sonatas. What fun, for a lover of Baroque music!
-- Laurie Niles, Violinist.com
--------
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber's Mystery Sonatas, composed in the 1670s and 1680s, have almost as many interpretations as there are violinists. They're sometimes known as the "Rosary Sonatas," for the "mysteries" involved are the so-called Mysteries of the Rosary, episodes from the life of Christ that furnish material for meditative prayers undertaken with the devotional aid of Rosary prayer beads. Engravings of these episodes appear in Biber's original presentation manuscript of these works (whose cover is missing), and Canadian violinist Julia Wedman, inspired by paintings of the Mysteries of the Rosary she saw in the Aula Academica in Salzburg, emphasizes the sonatas' programmatic detail in her readings. There's no firm evidence that Biber himself was inspired by these paintings, but the idea isn't implausible. Wedman makes two unusual choices in implementing her programmatic idea. The first she shares with Andrew Manze and a few other violinists: instead of switching off among violins as Biber's scordatura or retuning directions become progressively more bizarre, she continues to play the same violin, forcing it into contortions as it approaches Christ's crucifixion and other, well, crucial episodes. This is not the usual approach, but it is persuasive if only because violinists in Biber's time did not possess a rack full of instruments. Wedman's second procedure may be less justifiable historically: she enlists the continuo players in her attempt to make these sonatas into detailed representational works. The same logic that supports her single-violin approach puts the continuo in question: would Biber or other violinists presenting these piece have had the luxury of trading off among gamba, theorbo, archlute, organ, harpsichord, cello, and harp as Wedman's accompanists do here? It's not likely, and it takes the focus off the violin in true virtuoso works. Her realization is never unmusical, however, and it builds nicely to the Crucifixion and Resurrection movements. She has plenty of technical resources to bear on the Passacaglia "The Guardian Angel," which on this and several other recordings is deployed as a finale to the Mystery Sonata cycle. This is an unusually speculative set of Mystery Sonatas, but one that will appeal to those who have come under the work's spell (if that word is permissible here). Notes, partly by Wedman herself, are in English only.
-- James Manheim, All Music Guide
R E V I E W S:
The music sparkles, and the liner notes are both visually appealing and extremely informative, with comprehensive historic description as well as Julia’s musical impressions of each of the 16 sonatas. What fun, for a lover of Baroque music!
-- Laurie Niles, Violinist.com
--------
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber's Mystery Sonatas, composed in the 1670s and 1680s, have almost as many interpretations as there are violinists. They're sometimes known as the "Rosary Sonatas," for the "mysteries" involved are the so-called Mysteries of the Rosary, episodes from the life of Christ that furnish material for meditative prayers undertaken with the devotional aid of Rosary prayer beads. Engravings of these episodes appear in Biber's original presentation manuscript of these works (whose cover is missing), and Canadian violinist Julia Wedman, inspired by paintings of the Mysteries of the Rosary she saw in the Aula Academica in Salzburg, emphasizes the sonatas' programmatic detail in her readings. There's no firm evidence that Biber himself was inspired by these paintings, but the idea isn't implausible. Wedman makes two unusual choices in implementing her programmatic idea. The first she shares with Andrew Manze and a few other violinists: instead of switching off among violins as Biber's scordatura or retuning directions become progressively more bizarre, she continues to play the same violin, forcing it into contortions as it approaches Christ's crucifixion and other, well, crucial episodes. This is not the usual approach, but it is persuasive if only because violinists in Biber's time did not possess a rack full of instruments. Wedman's second procedure may be less justifiable historically: she enlists the continuo players in her attempt to make these sonatas into detailed representational works. The same logic that supports her single-violin approach puts the continuo in question: would Biber or other violinists presenting these piece have had the luxury of trading off among gamba, theorbo, archlute, organ, harpsichord, cello, and harp as Wedman's accompanists do here? It's not likely, and it takes the focus off the violin in true virtuoso works. Her realization is never unmusical, however, and it builds nicely to the Crucifixion and Resurrection movements. She has plenty of technical resources to bear on the Passacaglia "The Guardian Angel," which on this and several other recordings is deployed as a finale to the Mystery Sonata cycle. This is an unusually speculative set of Mystery Sonatas, but one that will appeal to those who have come under the work's spell (if that word is permissible here). Notes, partly by Wedman herself, are in English only.
-- James Manheim, All Music Guide
Tracklist 16 tracks
- Disc 1
-
1 Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 1, "The Annunciation" 05:49
- Track
- 1
- Title
- Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 1, "The Annunciation"
- Duration
- 05:49
- Composer
- Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Performer
- Julia Wedman, Felix Deak, Lucas Harris, Charlotte Nediger
-
2 Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 2, "The Visitation" 05:17
- Track
- 2
- Title
- Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 2, "The Visitation"
- Duration
- 05:17
- Composer
- Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Performer
- Julia Wedman, Felix Deak, Lucas Harris, Charlotte Nediger
-
3 Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 3, "The Nativity" 07:19
- Track
- 3
- Title
- Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 3, "The Nativity"
- Duration
- 07:19
- Composer
- Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Performer
- Julia Wedman, Felix Deak, Lucas Harris, Charlotte Nediger
-
4 Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 4, "The Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple" 07:53
- Track
- 4
- Title
- Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 4, "The Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple"
- Duration
- 07:53
- Composer
- Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Performer
- Julia Wedman, Felix Deak, Lucas Harris, Charlotte Nediger
-
5 Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 5, "Finding the 12-Year-Old Jesus in the Temple" 07:22
- Track
- 5
- Title
- Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 5, "Finding the 12-Year-Old Jesus in the Temple"
- Duration
- 07:22
- Composer
- Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Performer
- Julia Wedman, Felix Deak, Lucas Harris, Charlotte Nediger
-
6 Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 6, "The Agony in the Garden" 07:26
- Track
- 6
- Title
- Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 6, "The Agony in the Garden"
- Duration
- 07:26
- Composer
- Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Performer
- Julia Wedman, Felix Deak, Lucas Harris, Charlotte Nediger
-
7 Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 7, "The Scourging at the Pillar" 09:28
- Track
- 7
- Title
- Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 7, "The Scourging at the Pillar"
- Duration
- 09:28
- Composer
- Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Performer
- Julia Wedman, Felix Deak, Lucas Harris, Charlotte Nediger
-
8 Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 8, "The Crowning with Thorns" 06:05
- Track
- 8
- Title
- Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 8, "The Crowning with Thorns"
- Duration
- 06:05
- Composer
- Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Performer
- Julia Wedman, Felix Deak, Lucas Harris, Charlotte Nediger
-
9 Mystery (Rosary) No. 9, "Jesus Carrying the Cross" 07:41
- Track
- 9
- Title
- Mystery (Rosary) No. 9, "Jesus Carrying the Cross"
- Duration
- 07:41
- Composer
- Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Performer
- Julia Wedman, Felix Deak, Lucas Harris, Charlotte Nediger
-
10 Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 10, "The Crucifixion" 09:04
- Track
- 10
- Title
- Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 10, "The Crucifixion"
- Duration
- 09:04
- Composer
- Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Performer
- Julia Wedman, Felix Deak, Lucas Harris, Charlotte Nediger
- Disc 2
-
1 Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 11, "The Resurrection" 08:29
- Track
- 1
- Title
- Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 11, "The Resurrection"
- Duration
- 08:29
- Composer
- Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Performer
- Julia Wedman, Felix Deak, Lucas Harris, Charlotte Nediger
-
2 Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 12, "The Ascension" 07:41
- Track
- 2
- Title
- Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 12, "The Ascension"
- Duration
- 07:41
- Composer
- Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Performer
- Julia Wedman, Felix Deak, Lucas Harris, Charlotte Nediger
-
3 Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 13, "Pentecost" 08:12
- Track
- 3
- Title
- Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 13, "Pentecost"
- Duration
- 08:12
- Composer
- Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Performer
- Julia Wedman, Felix Deak, Lucas Harris, Charlotte Nediger
-
4 Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 14, "The Assumption of Mary into Heaven" 08:40
- Track
- 4
- Title
- Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 14, "The Assumption of Mary into Heaven"
- Duration
- 08:40
- Composer
- Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Performer
- Julia Wedman, Felix Deak, Lucas Harris, Charlotte Nediger
-
5 Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 15, "The Coronation of Mary in Heaven" 11:30
- Track
- 5
- Title
- Mystery (Rosary) Sonata No. 15, "The Coronation of Mary in Heaven"
- Duration
- 11:30
- Composer
- Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Performer
- Julia Wedman
-
6 Mystery (Rosary) Sonatas: Passacaglia in G Minor 10:47
- Track
- 6
- Title
- Mystery (Rosary) Sonatas: Passacaglia in G Minor
- Duration
- 10:47
- Composer
- Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
- Performer
- Julia Wedman