![Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia (c. 1447). Rawpixel.](https://quadrant.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Untitled-design-19.png)
Resurrecting the Mysteries of Heinrich Biber
Why is it that there are pieces of music that, although rich in invention, remain essentially isolated from the mainstream? Perhaps the manuscript was lost, or the piece was so radical that it was shunned at the time of its genesis, only to find acceptance later. Sometimes, the work of a particular composer captures the imagination of the public, critics and fellow composers, eclipsing the style and innovations of another, whose work falls into obscurity.
They are the outliers that—if they are lucky—re-enter the conversation centuries later, to be studied, performed, recorded and discussed.
One such work is a collection of fifteen short sonatas for violin and continuo with a final passacaglia for solo violin by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber. Born in northern Bohemia, Biber worked in Salzburg from 1670 until his death in 1704. Now known as the Mystery, or Rosary, Sonatas, they follow the Roman Catholic Rosary of the Virgin Mary, and in these works Biber brings together his…
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