Fidicinum Sacro-Profanum
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Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704) Fidicinium Sacro-Profanum XII Sonatas for 2 violins, 2 violas & basso continuo Nuremberg 1683 Harmonie Universelle Florian Deuter, Mónica Waisman violin Christian Goosses, Wolfgang von Kessinger (I-VI) viola Balázs Máté basso di violino Dane Roberts violone & double bass Josep Maria Martí Duran lute Francesco Corti organ Florian Deuter · Mónica Waisman musical direction Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber Fidicinum Sacro-Profanum tam Choro, quam Foro, Pluribus Fidibus concinnatum et concini aptum, also „Geistlich-weltliches Saitenspiel, für Kirche wie Marktplatz, für mehrere Streichinstrumente kunstgerecht komponiert und für das gemeinsame Spiel geeignet“ 1 Sonata I in B minor 6:27 2 Sonata II in F major 7:52 3 Sonata III in D minor 4:51 4 Sonata IV in G minor 6:24 5 Sonata V in C major 3:35 6 Sonata VI in A minor 6:45 for 2 violins, 2 violas & basso continuo 7 Georg Muffat Toccata Duodecima 7:05 from: Apparatus musico-organisticus (1690) 8 Sonata VII in D major 4:30 9 Sonata VIII in B flat major 4:20 10 Sonata IX in G major 6:51 11 Sonata X in E major 5:25 12 Sonata XI in C minor 6:04 13 Sonata XII in A major 5:42 for 2 violins, viola & basso continuo ENGLISH For God and the World Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber‘s Fidicinum Sacro-Profanum Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber is well known today as Biber undoubtedly owed a debt of gratitude to the a composer of exceptional string music. In the 20th prince archbishop of Salzburg. The art-loving Max century, it was above all the violinists who rediscov- Gandolph had employed the young musician in 1671 ered and re-introduced into concert life this musician when Heinrich, in the course of a shopping trip to see of the high Baroque who was for a long time in the the Tyrolean master violin maker Jacobus Stainer, had service of the Salzburg court. Of particular interest deserted the employment of Karl von Liechtenstein- was his legacy as the creator of the fifteen sonatas Kastelkorn, Bishop of Olomouc. Born in August 1644 for violin tuned in scordatura (irregular tuning) and in the Bohemian town of Wartenberg, Biber was an basso continuo. According to Biber’s own Foreword in exceptional violinist with whom no one could com- the dedication manuscript, these sonatas “in honour pete at the time, at least north of the Alps – with the of the fifteen sacred mysteries” of the Marian rosary possible exception of the Viennese vice chapelmaster were composed for his archbishop prince Max Gan- Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, his presumed teacher. dolph von Kuenburg. In Salzburg, Biber initially worked in Max Gandolph’s The string sonatas presented here, presumably pub- chamber. In this function he must have served the lished in Nuremberg in 1683, illustrate the benefits Prince Archbishop primarily by playing the violin of delving into other works from Biber’s rich œuvre, for his master’s personal edification. But, as a self- most of which was already published in print during confident man who was also an active composer, he his lifetime. Under the title Fidicinium sacro-profa- also participated publicly in the church music of the num tam choro, quàm foro pluribus fidibus concinna- cathedral of Salzburg. For that practice, he composed tum & concini aptum, the print offers music for string vocal music for masses and vespers – he is even con- ensemble for both spiritual and secular occasions. sidered to have composed the anonymous 53-part Biber also dedicated this collection to the recipient of Missa Salisburgensis, probably composed in 1682 on the Rosary Sonatas, Maximilian Gandolph von Kuen- the occasion of the 1100th anniversary of the diocese burg, his “great Apollo” and “highest patron of music of Salzburg. The baroque splendour that many of his and the muses”, as he is referred to in the preface. ensemble works radiate was also in demand in the nearby Residenz: festive instrumental music was as 7 ENGLISH ENGLISH suitable for the representation of divine power in the filigreed and contrapuntally sophisticated forms that presented his artistic skills in exemplary fashion in companist to Biber’s violin. Therefore, this recording liturgy as for the symbolisation of the prince arch- captivate the listener with their rhetorically expres- the compositions of his Apparatus musico-organisti- features a baroque church organ not only in his Toc- bishop’s greatness in courtly ceremonies and ban- sive language of sound – after the first sonata has cus (1690). The main part of the Apparatus consists cata, but also in the continuo part of Biber’s sonatas. quets. caught the attention of the esteemed audience with of twelve toccatas, in which improvised sections with This is how it used to be performed in Salzburg Ca- two Allegro measures that burst in as in a flash, to straightforward chord sequences or virtuoso runs thedral, which, in addition to the main organ on the A collection for strings and wind instruments, com- announce the following softer, floating harmonies. are interspersed with strictly contrapuntal fugue west wall, also had smaller instruments on each pillar posed and printed by Biber in 1676, the Sonatae tam Each of the twelve sonatas offers an enchanting expositions. In Muffat’sToccata Duodecima in B flat of the crossing on the musicians’ galleries. aris, quam aulis servientes, already reflects this dou- kaleidoscope of colourful motifs that confronts the major – heard here as an intermezzo between the ble function in its title. The Fidicinium sacro-profa- listener with changing instrumental image scenes six five-part and six four-part string sonatas of the The organ featured on the present recording is in the num, apparently put together six years later, limits and bears witness to Biber’s never-ending composi- Fidicinium – the virtuoso passage play predominates former monastery church of Niederehe. It may very its settings to four- or five-part strings with basso tional imagination. Its unique signet is a bitter-sweet from the beginning. Yet even in the lyrical Adagio well be the earliest work by Balthasar König, who continuo, but displays a compositional fancy at least melancholic transition into the most exuberant dance sections, with their expressive dissonant suspensions, received his first training in his family’s organ work- equal to the former publication. Thus Biber follows a movements. Creations developed entirely from coun- the piece follows the tried and true toccata style in shop in Ingolstadt and came from Southern Germany path that he had already taken in 1680 in his Tafel- terpoint, such as the Adagio towards the end of the the tradition of the Roman master Girolamo Fresco- to the Rhineland at the beginning of the 18th cen- musik suites Mensa sonora. As he had done in that eleventh sonata, constitute special artistic highlights baldi, to whom Muffat expressly makes reference in tury. In 1711, he founded his own workshop in Mün- collection, he wrote some sonatas (VII to XII in the and would not be out of place (without the comple- the foreword. The fugal section towards the end, with stereifel, which he later moved to Cologne. In 1714, Fidicinium) nominally for violin and two violas, which ment of the basso continuo) in a romantic string its dotted triple rhythms, is close to the character of a he was commissioned by the Premonstratensians in develop their melodic arches and chord sequences quartet. gigue, the dance movement which usually concluded Niederehe to build the instrument with nine manual over a foundation for a string bass and a harmonic in- a suite. Here, however, Muffat plants the effective fi- stops and a coupled pedal. After several alterations strument. The higher viola, however, actually acts as In January 1678, Max Gandolph appointed Biber – his nal point only after a recapitulation of the virtuoso over the centuries, the organ again largely resounds a second violin part; accordingly, it shifts from alto to valet who had meanwhile, on several occasions, dis- opening passage. in its original condition. For the recording of Muf- soprano clef in the seventh sonata (the second viola, played his art as a violinist for Emperor Leopold I – to fat’s Toccata, the two wedge bellows that supply the likewise, from tenor clef to alto clef). We are deal- the position of vice chapelmaster of Salzburg; after Muffat was not only an excellent soloist on the key- airflow were operated mechanically, as was the his- ing indeed with string quartets with basso continuo the death of the former chapelmaster Andreas Hofer, board instrument, but also an important continuo ac- torical practice. harmonies, in which Biber occasionally animates he was promoted to the highest musical office in the individual upper voices to vibrant concert dialogues. Archbishopric in March 1684. Biber died on May 3rd, Bernd Heyder The Sonatas I to VI, the first part of theFidicinium , re- 1704 in Salzburg. translation: Leonardo Waisman quire 2 violins and 2 violas. This results in that warm sounding, contrapuntally dense five-part texture that This programme is supplemented by an organ piece was still considered the standard for ensemble music composed by the outstanding organist and harp- in the late 17th century. sichordist Georg Muffat, who was employed as ca- thedral organist and valet at the Salzburg court at In the Fidicinium, Biber conceives a series of varied, the time of Biber’s twelve Fidicinium Sonatas. Muffat 8 9 FRANÇ AIS Pour Dieu et tout l’univers Fidicinum Sacro-Profanum de Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber est connu aujourd’hui vêque de Salzbourg. Max Gandolph, passionné d’art, grâce à ses compositions exceptionnelles pour le avait recruté le jeune musicien en 1671 lorsque violon.