COMPOSERS: Biber
LABELS: Chandos Chaconne
WORKS: Sonatae tam aris quam aulis servientes
PERFORMER: Mark Bennett, Michael Laird (trumpet), Katherine McGillivray, Jane Rogers, Tim Cronin (viola); Purcell Quartet
CATALOGUE NO: CHAN 0591 DDD
Biber’s Sonatae tam aris (1676) is the earliest of four instrumental collections published during his lifetime. Its ensemble of trumpets, violins, violas and continuo, deployed variously in five to eight parts, has its roots in the Venetian polychoral tradition, to whose grandeur the collection aspires. Five sonatas involve the trumpet (an instrument of which Biber was clearly fond, since one of his other works is scored for no fewer than eight), which gives an additional resplendence to the colourful writing for strings. Superbly played. Deborah Calland
Biber: Sonatae tam aris quam aulis servientes
Biber’s Sonatae tam aris (1676) is the earliest of four instrumental collections published during his lifetime. Its ensemble of trumpets, violins, violas and continuo, deployed variously in five to eight parts, has its roots in the Venetian polychoral tradition, to whose grandeur the collection aspires. Five sonatas involve the trumpet (an instrument of which Biber was clearly fond, since one of his other works is scored for no fewer than eight), which gives an additional resplendence to the colourful writing for strings. Superbly played. Deborah Calland
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:08 pm