Heinrich Ignaz Biber
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Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (August 12, 1644 – May 3, 1704) was a Bohemian-Austrian composer and violinist.
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[edit] Biography
Biber was born in Wartenberg (now Stráž pod Ralskem, Czech Republic). He received his first position in 1668 as musician in the court of Archbishop Karl Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn at Olmutz. But Biber failed to return from a visit to Innsbruck without permission. On this visit he met the at the time famous violin maker Jakob Stainer, who mentioned him in a later document as "the outstanding virtuoso Herr Biber". He was first a violinist at the castle of Kroměříž and the Salzburg court. In 1684 he became Kapellmeister in Salzburg, where he died twenty years later.
His prolific works show a predilection for canonic use and harmonic diapason that pre-date the later Baroque works of Johann Pachelbel and Johann Sebastian Bach. He was known as a violin virtuoso and is best known for his violin works, many of which employ scordatura (unconventional tunings of the open strings), a technique introduced by the Italian composer Marco Uccellini.
The music of Biber has enjoyed a renaissance, in part, because of The Rosary Sonatas. This remarkable set of 16 sonatas is also known as The Mystery Sonatas (in reference to key events in the lives of the Virgin Mary and Christ) and The Copper-Engraving Sonatas (because of the engravings at the head of the sonatas). Each sonata employs a different tuning of the violin. This use of scordatura transforms the violin's expressivity from the pleasures of the Five Joyful Mysteries (the Annunciation, etc.) through the trauma of the Five Sorrowful Mysteries (the Crucifixion, etc.) to the ethereal nature of the Six Glorious Mysteries. The Glorious Mysteries start with the Resurrection Sonata—where the two middle strings are symbolically crossed over—and end with a passacaglia for solo violin using standard tuning (Sonata No 16), thereby completing the cycle of scordaturas. Remarkably, in Sonata No 15 Biber anticipates the theme of Paganini's Capriccio No 24 almost exactly. We can assume that Paganini took his inspiration from Biber (just as Liszt, Brahms and Rachmaninov were later inspired by Paganini's famous Caprice).
Biber wrote abundant choral and chamber music, concertos, operas, as well as several more popular pieces such as the Nightwatchman Serenade and Harmonia Artificiosa. The Missa Salisburgensis is an astonishing polyphonic setting of the mass for 53 independent voices which is currently attributed to Biber (it was previously thought to be the work of Orazio Benevoli).
[edit] Compositions
[edit] Instrumental works
- Sonata for 6 trumpets, timpani, and organ (1668)
- Sonata representativa (for violin and continuo) (1669)
- Sonata La battalia (for 3 violins, 4 violas, 2 violone, and continuo) (1673)
- The Rosary Sonatas (for violin in scordatura and continuo and a passacaglia for violin solo) (also known as The Mystery Sonatas and The Copper-Engraving Sonatas) (1674?)
- Sonatae tam aris quam aulis servientes (for 5-8 instruments (trumpets, strings, and continuo) in various combinations) (1676)
- Mensa sonora (sonatas for violin, two violas, and continuo) (1680)
- 8 sonatas for violin and continuo (1681)
- 12 sonatas Fidicinium sacroprofanum (for 1 or 2 violins, 2 violas, and continuo) (1683)
- 7 trio sonatas Harmonia artificioso-ariosa: diversi mode accordata (for 1 or 2 violins, 2 violas, 2 viola d'amore, and continuo in various combinations) (1696)
- Die liederliche Gesellschaft von allerley Humor
[edit] Vocal works
- Missa Christi resurgentis (c.1674)
- Missa Salisburgensis (attrib.; for 53 independent instrumental and vocal parts) (1682)
- Plaudite tympana (motet) (attrib.; for 53 independent instrumental and vocal parts) (1682)
- Applausi festivi di Giove (cantata) (1687)
- Li trofei della fede cattolica (cantata) (1687)
- Alessandro in Pietra (opera) (1689)
- Chi la dura la vince (opera) (c.1690)
- Requiem in A (c.1690)
- Requiem in F minor (c.1692)
- Missa Bruxellensis (for 23 independent instrumental and vocal parts) (c.1696)
- Missa Sancti Henrici (1697)
- Trattenimento musicale del'ossequio di Salisburgo (cantata) (1699)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Heinrich Biber homepage (includes discography)
- Heinrich Ignaz Biber was listed in the International Music Score Library Project
- Free scores by Heinrich Ignaz Biber in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
