Biber's Battalia (1673) features eight contemporaneous folk songs played simultaneously in different keys, with a note in the manuscript describing the dissonance as how 'drunks shout out various songs'.
Composition History
Sonata Jucunda, which prominently features a Turkish-sounding melody and battle motifs, survives in manuscript at the Czech castle library at Kroměříž, the source for most of Biber's existing works.
Composition History
The attribution of several works on this album, including Sonata Jucunda, O dulcis Jesu, a Ciacona, a viola da gamba sonatina-suite, and Balettae, to Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber is speculative.
Performer Biography
ACRONYM's performances have been praised by The New York Times for their 'consummate style, grace, and unity of spirit'.
Performer Biography
ACRONYM, an 'outstanding young early-music string ensemble' according to The New Yorker, is dedicated to giving modern premieres of wild 17th-century instrumental music.
Compositional Technique
Biber's Battalia (1673) uses extended string techniques rarely heard until the 20th century, such as striking strings with the wood of the bow, threading paper between strings for a rattle, and snap pizzicato.
Compositional Technique
The anonymous soprano cantata O dulcis Jesu uses a scordatura violin (retuned B3-F♯4-B4-E5) and has an unusual structure that lacks any modulations throughout the piece.
