Biber / Musica Alchemica / Bonet Mystery Sonatas CD

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber's Rosary Sonatas (or Mystery Sonatas) c. 1678 are unlike anything else in the violin literature, with scordatura, or unconventional instrument tuning, exhaustively explored in the fifteen-piece cycle, each sonata utilizing a different tuning. Each sonata represents one of the Catholic Rosary Mysteries. As the music reaches it's spiritual climax in the "Resurrection" sonata, Biber specifies the violin be played with it's two central strings crossed. Accompanying Lina Tur Bonet, an exciting younger generation violinist, is her ensemble Musica Alchemica.

1. Mystery Sonata No. 1, 'The Annunciation' 2. Mystery Sonata No. 2, 'The Visitation' 3. Mystery Sonata No. 3, 'The Nativity' 4. Mystery Sonata No. 4, 'The Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple' 5. Mystery Sonata No. 5, 'The 12-Year-Old Jesus in the Temple' 6. Mystery Sonata No. 6, 'Christ on the Mount of Olives' 7. Mystery Sonata No. 7, 'The Scourging at the Pillar' 8. Mystery Sonata No. 8, 'The Crown of Thorns' 9. Mystery Sonata No. 9, 'Jesus Carries the Cross' 10. Mystery Sonata No. 10, 'The Crucifixion' 11. Mystery Sonata No. 11, 'The Resurrection' 12. Mystery Sonata No. 12, 'The Ascension' 13. Mystery Sonata No. 13, 'Pentecost' 14. Mystery Sonata No. 14, 'The Assumption of the Virgin' 15. Mystery Sonata No. 15, 'The Beatification of the Virgin' 16. Passagalia, 'The Guardian Angel' - Lina Tur Bonet