Biber: Rosary Sonatas

Biber's Rosary Sonatas are considered the most extensive example of scordatura - a technique whereby the strings are purposefully tuned differently from their usual arrangement. In these works, the violin's usual G-D-A-E tuning is only used for the opening sonata and the closing Passacaglia. The other fourteen sonatas each have a different configuration of tuning. Compositionally, this allowed Biber to obtain unusual chords, opening up a whole new spectrum of harmonic and textural possibilities. This fundamentally altered what a violin was and could be; its physicality as well as its voice was transformed. On this recording, the incomparable Rachel Podger reveals all the mysteries and glories of these amazing works.