Biber and Muffat – a programme marking the 300th anniversary of the deaths of Heinrich Biber (1644 -1704) & Georg Muffat (1653-1704)
| Heinrich Biber | Sonata No. 10 in G minor from Sonatae, tam aris quam aulis servientes |
| Pavel Vejvanovsky | Sonata a 5 in G minor |
| Muffat | Sonata No. 5 in G major from Armonico tributo |
| Biber | Partia No. 3 in A major from Harmonia artificiosa-ariosa |
| Sonata No. 4 in C major from Sonatae, tam aris quam aulis servientes | |
| Muffat | Sonata No. 2 in G minor from Armonico tributo |
| Heinrich Schmelzer | ‘Polnische Sackpfeiffen’ |
| Biber | Sonata a 6 in C major |
- Crispian Steele-Perkins trumpet
- The Parley of Instruments
- directed by Peter Holman
Heinrich Biber and Georg Muffat, the greatest Austrian composers of the seventeenth century, were colleagues at the Salzburg court in the 1680s with sharply contrasted outlooks.
Biber drew on his native central European tradition for his colourful works, here including virtuoso sonatas for trumpet and strings, a sonata imitating birds, an extraordinary suite for two scordatura (mistuned) violins. The cosmopolitan Muffat studied in France and Italy, and his synthesis of Lully’s graceful orchestral style and Corelli’s power and passion can be heard in sonatas from his Armonico tributo (1682), including the monumental concluding passacaglia of No. 5.
There will also be a sonata imitating Polish bagpipes by Heinrich Schmelzer and a trumpet sonata by Pavel Vejvanovsk, both early influences on Biber.
The Parley of Instruments, celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2004, is one of Britain foremost Baroque string consorts.