Rachel Podger – Biber: Rosary Sonatas (2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Rachel Podger – Biber: Rosary Sonatas (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 02:13:22 minutes | 4,07 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Channel Classics Records

Johann Kuhnau, Bach’s predecessor at Leipzig, composed biblical sonatas depicting stories – such as David and Goliath – in abstract, worldless, keyboard pieces. Biber’s Mystery Sonatas are quite different because they form part of a linked meditation on the life of Jesus and therefore present remarkable potential for the interpreter as a kind of ‘Evangelist’. Uniquely, these celebrated works employ fourteen different scordatura tunings where the altered intervals on the four strings create extraordinarily different ‘sound worlds’ to describe each event. Singers aside, performers are rarely presented with such heady subject matter to motivate their interpretations, apart from the usual movement titles indicating tempi, pulse and character.
Some pieces may have meaningful titles with a dedication, perhaps to another composer or friend, and we also come across specific instructions to ‘imitate’ various animals. For instance, Biber’s Battalia – a work which employs fashionable programmatic elements in the best traditions of a sonata rappresentativa) – portrays both the battle and the lament for the dead in a fashion which requires no further explanation. Likewise, in the case of C.P.E. Bach’s trio sonata Sanguineus and Melancholicus, a whole scene is described with meticulous and detailed instructions for expression, ranging from stubbornness and anger to laughter and ridicule, and even irony!

Tracklist:

1-01. Rachel Podger, David Miller, Marcin Świątkiewicz – The Annunciation d minor (06:03)
1-02. Rachel Podger, David Miller, Marcin Świątkiewicz, Jonathan Manson – The Visitation a major (05:38)
1-03. Rachel Podger, David Miller, Marcin Świątkiewicz – The Nativity b minor (07:35)
1-04. Rachel Podger, David Miller, Marcin Świątkiewicz – The Presentation in the Temple d minor (08:19)
1-05. Rachel Podger, David Miller, Marcin Świątkiewicz, Jonathan Manson – The Finding in the Temple a major (07:24)
1-06. Rachel Podger, David Miller, Marcin Świątkiewicz – The Agony in the Garden c minor (09:14)
1-07. Rachel Podger, David Miller, Marcin Świątkiewicz – The Scourging f major (09:03)
1-08. Rachel Podger, Marcin Świątkiewicz – The Crowning with Thorns bb major (07:13)
2-01. Rachel Podger, David Miller, Marcin Świątkiewicz – The Carrying of the Cross a minor (07:59)
2-02. Rachel Podger, David Miller, Marcin Świątkiewicz – The Crucifixion g minor (09:15)
2-03. Rachel Podger, David Miller, Marcin Świątkiewicz – The Resurrection g major (08:02)
2-04. Rachel Podger, David Miller, Marcin Świątkiewicz, Jonathan Manson – The Ascension c major (07:27)
2-05. Rachel Podger, David Miller, Marcin Świątkiewicz – The Descent of the Holy Ghost d minor (08:16)
2-06. Rachel Podger, David Miller, Marcin Świątkiewicz – The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin d major (10:30)
2-07. Rachel Podger, David Miller, Marcin Świątkiewicz, Jonathan Manson – The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin c major (12:25)
2-08. Rachel Podger – Guardian Angel taken from ccs sa 35513 ‘Guardian Angel’ (08:53)

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