Heinrich Biber's THE MYSTERY SONATAS Closes Houston Early Music Season

The Houston Early Music 2017-18 season will close with a momentous occasion: Heinrich Biber's daunting "The Mystery Sonatas," also known as the Rosary Sonatas, one of the most extraordinary sets of music ever written for the violin. This rare opportunity to hear the entire work, presented by four members of Boston Baroque - North America's first permanent Baroque orchestra. - will take place Saturday, May 5, at 7:30 p.m. at the Shepherd School of Music's Duncan Recital Hall at Rice University.

As Boston Baroque's music director, Martin Pearlman explains it, "Biber's 'Mystery Sonatas' rank, along with Bach's unaccompanied violin music, among the most challenging works in the Baroque violin repertoire, and his experimentation with the instrument is unique, even to this day." Pearlman will play continuo accompaniment on the harpsichord and organ, joined by Michael Leopold on Baroque guitar and theorbo (a large lute) and Michael Unterman on baroque cello. Boston Baroque concertmaster Christina Day Martinson will solo.

Why Biber wrote the "Mystery Sonatas" remains something of a mystery. He dedicated the manuscript to his employer, the archbishop of Salzburg, Austria, a devotee of the Confraternity of the Rosary. Whether the music was intended for performance during worship, or for other purposes, is unknown. It is, however, laid out like the prayers of the Rosary. Its 15 sonatas, each depicting a different episode from the story of Christ, are grouped into three sets of five: five joyful mysteries, five sorrowful mysteries, and five glorious mysteries.

Beyond its biblical references, the music pushes the envelope of what is possible on the violin, even by today's standards of extended techniques. It draws heavily on the practice of scordatura - an intentional mistuning of an instrument - with each sonata requiring a different tuning. The tunings not only allow for otherwise-impossible chords and effects but also change the sound of the violin, making it darker or lighter, according to Pearlman.

An additional level of difficulty in performing this music, lost for two centuries soon after its composition in the 1670s, comes from its extreme virtuosity, a result of Biber's great skill as a virtuoso violinist. The music's technical challenges make a performance of all the sonatas, along with the concluding passacaglia, a significant event, one that Pearlman believes is greater than the sum of its parts. As the narrative unfolds, the musical journey becomes "increasingly absorbing and powerful," he said.

Boston Baroque will perform Heinrich Biber's complete "Mystery Sonatas" on Saturday, May 5, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. at the Shepherd School of Music's Duncan Recital Hall at Rice University (Entrance No. 18 on Rice Blvd.), Houston, Texas 77005. A pre-concert talk will begin at 6:45 p.m.

Individual tickets are available for $40 general admission, $35 senior admission and $10 for students with valid student ID card. Children under the age of 15 receive free admission.

For more information, e-mail info@HoustonEarlyMusic.org or call 713-325-5377, Ext. 1077.

Presenting a Millennium of Masterworks
Houston Early Music is the city's only nonprofit presenting organization that offers an annual concert series of performances by major, international early music ensembles and emerging artists. In addition, its successful outreach programs invite listeners of all ages to discover the origins of classical and modern music. Houston Early Music is funded in part by grants from the Houston Arts Alliance, the Texas Commission on the Arts and The National Endowment for the Arts. HoustonEarlyMusic.org

Photo courtesy of Kathy Wittman