Mensa Sonora: Biber and His Contemporaries (2006)

Compositions by Austrian seventeenth century composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber heard on this album are not the radical virtuoso music of the Rosary Sonatas or his other works that make use of such devices as scordatura or retuning. Mensa Sonora, the title of a Biber collection excerpted here, means "the sonorous table," and these pieces by Biber and other composers of his time were likely meant as background music for the meals of a noble patron. (This is apparently the reason for the photos of a pomegranate on the ... Read More

Compositions by Austrian seventeenth century composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber heard on this album are not the radical virtuoso music of the Rosary Sonatas or his other works that make use of such devices as scordatura or retuning. Mensa Sonora, the title of a Biber collection excerpted here, means "the sonorous table," and these pieces by Biber and other composers of his time were likely meant as background music for the meals of a noble patron. (This is apparently the reason for the photos of a pomegranate on the cover, but the design of the album as a whole is strikingly unappealing.) The works are ensemble sonatas or sonatas for a solo instrument with continuo in sequences of short movements (as short as 25 seconds). The spectacular passacaglia for solo violin often appended to theRosary Sonatas closes the program, and its surprise-filled, sparkling performance by Sophie Gent is worth the price of the disc by itself. The Montreal historical-instrument ensemble Masques contributes rather wiry... Read Less

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2006, Analekta UPC: 774204990923 CD See All from $23.01