Alfred Schnittke's Fugue for solo violin, included on this album, was written in 1953 when he was a teenager and was discovered and premiered posthumously in New York in 1999.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded in St Martin's Church, East Woodhay, Newbury, UK, over three days in May 2021.
Composer Biography
Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, a Bohemian-Austrian composer and one of the most outstanding violinists of his era, settled in Salzburg in 1670 and remained in the service of its Archbishop for the rest of his life.
Compositional Technique
Biber's Passacaglia for violin, featured on this album, is based on a descending four-note figure and is considered one of the earliest and most outstanding solo violin pieces before Bach's masterpieces.
Critical Reception
Johannes Brahms eloquently remarked that Bach's Chaconne, a piece on this album, contained "a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings" written for a small instrument.
Critical Reception
The music historian Charles Burney wrote that Biber, a composer featured on this album, seemed to be the best violinist of the 17th century, and his solos were the most difficult and fanciful of their time.
Composer's Artistic Vision
György Kurtág, a contemporary composer featured on this album, is known for his brief, concentrated, and intensely expressive pieces, many of which are collected in his series 'Signs, Games and Messages'.
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