Biber - Complete Violin Sonatas (1681)

£23.70

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Label: Delphian

Cat No: DCD34334

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 2

Genre: Chamber

Release Date: 20th June 2025

Works

Biber, Heinrich Ignaz Franz

Violin Sonata in A major, C147 (Sonata no.81)
Violin Sonata in E major, C108 (Sonata no.84)
Violin Sonatas (8) (1681)

Artists

Bojan Cicic (violin)
The Illyria Consort

Works

Biber, Heinrich Ignaz Franz

Violin Sonata in A major, C147 (Sonata no.81)
Violin Sonata in E major, C108 (Sonata no.84)
Violin Sonatas (8) (1681)

Artists

Bojan Cicic (violin)
The Illyria Consort

About

Following the chart-topping success of his Bach Sonatas and Partitas and equal acclaim for his recording of Walther’s Scherzi da violino, Bojan Čičić now turns to Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber’s collection of sonatas from 1681 – among the most ambitious and inventive violin works of the seventeenth century.

Using unorthodox tuning and bold harmonic invention, Biber expands the instrument’s capabilities, and his improvisatory style, layered textures and intricate counterpoint demand of the player not only virtuosic technical brilliance but an acute sensitivity to affect and sonority.

With his Illyria Consort, Čičić brings a clarity and depth to this music, uncovering the sonatas’ rich interplay between intellect, devotion and instrumental theatre. Restless in imagination and profound in expression, the sonatas – here recorded complete – are illuminated by Čičić’s unmistakable artistry.

Sound/Video

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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata I in A major, C138: 1. [Praeludium]
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata I in A major, C138: 2. Adagio
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata I in A major, C138: 3. Presto
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata I in A major, C138: 4. Variationes
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata I in A major, C138: 5. Finale
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata II in D Dorian mode, C139: 1. [Praeludium]
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata II in D Dorian mode, C139: 2. Aria
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata II in D Dorian mode, C139: 3. Variationes
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata II in D Dorian mode, C139: 4. Finale
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata III in F major, C140: 1. [Sonata:] Adagio – Presto
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata III in F major, C140: 2. Aria & variationes I
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata III in F major, C140: 3. Presto – Adagio – Allegro – Adagio
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata III in F major, C140: 4. Variationes II
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata III in F major, C140: 5. [Finale]
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata IV in D major, C141: 1. [Sonata]
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata IV in D major, C141: 2. Presto
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata IV in D major, C141: 3. Gigue – Double I – Double II
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata IV in D major, C141: 4. Adagio – [Allegro] – Adagio
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata IV in D major, C141: 5. Aria
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata IV in D major, C141: 6. Variationes
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata IV in D major, C141: 7. Finale
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Sonata No.84 in E major: 1. Adagio
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Sonata No.84 in E major: 2. [Aria & variationes I]
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Sonata No.84 in E major: 3. [Aria & variationes II]
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Sonata No.84 in E major: 4. [Aria & Variationes III]
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Sonata No.84 in E major: 5. Finale
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata V in E minor, C142: 1. [Praeludium]
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata V in E minor, C142: 2. Variationes I
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata V in E minor, C142: 3. Presto
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata V in E minor, C142: 4. Aria
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata V in E minor, C142: 5. Variationes II
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata VI in C minor, C143: 1. [Sonata]
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata VI in C minor, C143: 2. Passacagli
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata VI in C minor, C143: 3. [Adagio]
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata VI in C minor, C143: 4. Gavotte
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata VI in C minor, C143: 5. Adagio
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata VI in C minor, C143: 6. Allegro – Adagio
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata VII in G major, C144: 1. Preaeludium
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata VII in G major, C144: 2. Aria: Presto
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata VII in G major, C144: 3. Adagio
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata VII in G major, C144: 4. Ciacona
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata VIII in A major, C145: 1. [Sonata]
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata VIII in A major, C145: 2. [Sonata II]
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata VIII in A major, C145: 3. Aria
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata VIII in A major, C145: 4. Sarabanda
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Sonatae Violino solo, 1681: Sonata VIII in A major, C145: 5. Aria [– Gigue]
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Sonata No.81 in A major: 1. Adagio
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Sonata No.81 in A major: 2. Presto
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Sonata No.81 in A major: 3. [Fantasia]
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Sonata No.81 in A major: 4. Aria
51

Sonata No.81 in A major: 5. Variationes

Europadisc Review

The growth in awareness of Heinrich Biber’s music over the past four decades is one of the great success stories of the Early Music movement. At one time known (if at all) only for his vividly pictorial Battalia à 10, and for his formidable reputation as a violinist, this Bohemian-born Austrian composer is now much better represented both in the concert hall and on disc. These days, his best known work (alongside the vast Missa Salisburgensis attributed to him) is his set of 15 Mystery (or Rosary) Sonatas for violin and continuo, with their concluding Passacaglia for solo violin. Illustrating the 15 Mysteries of the Rosary (various events from the lives of Christ and the Virgin), they make extensive (often symbolic) use of scordatura: the retuning of some or all of the violin’s four strings, to striking sonorous effect.

Demanding as they are, the Mystery Sonatas are far from the only work that Biber composed for the violin: until their rediscovery in 1905, they existed only in a single manuscript. By contrast, the later Sonatae Violino solo (published in 1681) were much more familiar to Biber’s contemporaries, and were key in establishing his reputation as a composer. (Charles Burney later wrote of them that they ‘are the most difficult and most fanciful of any music I have seen of the same period’.) Comprising eight multi-movement sonatas for violin and continuo, they are not overtly religious, but their combination of quasi-improvisatory flights of fancy, moments of deep repose and compelling use of variations over a ground bass creates works that have a profoundly personal quality, combining the virtuosic with the spiritual.

The select group of artists to record these works (including Andrew Manze, Monica Huggett and Gunar Letzbor) is now joined by Croatian-born violinist Bojan Čičić with his Illyria Consort (Steven Devine on keyboards, theorbist Elizabeth Kenny and harpist Siobhán Armstrong). It was Manze’s recording of some 30 years ago that first inspired Čičić to specialise in Baroque violin, and his new recording for Delphian – closely-focused, and with plenty of ‘grain’ – was made in the same venue of St Martin’s Church, East Woodhay, Hampshire. A former leader of the Academy of Ancient Music, Čičić has already won acclaim for recordings ranging from Bach and Handel to Carbonelli, Giornovich and Walther. Here, together with his colleagues, he achieves an ideal blend between dazzling technical prowess and penetrating musicality.

Presented in published order, the cycle begins with the improvisatory opening gestures of Sonata I in A major, in which the soloist feels his way before indulging in some splashy string-crossing, followed by a more inward section marked Adagio, which in its turn also climaxes in rapid cross-string figures. A brief, jig-like Presto strikes a jaunty note, before a ground bass introduces a set of variations which begins in the manner of a leisurely siciliano and then introduces increasingly virtuosic figuration. The Sonata closes with another quasi-extempore Finale which eventually finds repose. Čičić and his colleagues respond brilliantly to the mercurial changes of affect with great inventiveness and sensitivity, and they continue to do so in the following works.

Although not organised along the more formal lines of the 18th-century sonata, these works often have a ground-bass variation movement at their heart, drawing soloist and listener into its vortex, while the surrounding movements take on the feel of ever more fanciful musings. Sonata IV, in which three of the violin’s strings are retuned to reinforce the focus on the tonic key of D major and its dominant, also features an engaging Giga (replete with multiple string stopping) with two increasingly lively Doubles. The Variationes movement is in a similarly buoyant mood, while the Finale plays with quasi-antiphonal effects and grandiose multiple-stops.

Sonata V in E minor is more soulful, even its jaunty, dotted-rhythm Presto tinged with unspoken longing, while Sonata VI in C minor (which calls for the soloist to tune the top string down from E to D halfway through) centres on a hypnotic Passacagli and also includes a Gavotte of high seriousness. Sonata VII is cast in a luxuriant G major (all the more welcome after the two minor-key works that precede it), and culminates in a magnificent Ciacona with passages of extreme virtuosity. The final sonata in the set, in A major, is perhaps the most demanding of the lot, with the violin part notated across two staves, sometimes featuring multiple-stopping with the instrument providing its own harmonisation, at others creating antiphonal effects between two distinct ‘voices’.

Two further sonatas, one of them attributed to Biber, the other an early work that already demonstrates the composer’s sovereign command of the instrument, come as generous fillers. Supported by thoughtful notes from musicologist Wiebke Thormählen, this recording vividly captures the essence of Biber’s hugely inventive, often fanciful yet always touchingly intimate music to a tee. By coincidence, next month sees the release of a selection of these sonatas from one of Čičić’s mentors, Rachel Podger. These are demanding yet constantly absorbing works that are open to more than one approach (not least in their more free-form movements), but for those wanting the complete set, Čičić and the Illyria Consort are now the ones to go for. It’s another wonderful addition to their Delphian discography.

Reviews

Throughout, the music, and Čičić’s playing, continually underline why the 17th century is often called the Golden Age of violin-playing; there’s a great combination of subtle nuance, bold contrast and sheer technical dazzle. ... For me, this release is a triumph and pretty much everything about it speaks of an artist entering the golden phase of his career. If it doesn’t win awards, I’ll be astonished. Edward Breen (Recording of the Month)

Gramophone July 2025

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Biber - Complete Violin Sonatas (1681)

In stock - available for despatch within 1 working day

Despatch Information

Contents

Works

Artists

Works

Artists

About

Sound/Video

Paused

Europadisc Review

Reviews