This Saturday, the Church will celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation. Then on Sunday, we enter the two-week period of Passiontide. Given the dramatic character and theological significance of both points of reference in the Church calendar, it is not surprising that there is an abundance of music tied to both commemorations. The following pages on this site may thus be of interest: On this page, you can hear an interview with baroque violinist Fiona Hughes about a remarkable set of violin sonatas inspired by the fifteen mysteries in the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Together, the works — composed by Heinrich Biber (1644–1704) — are known as the…
-
-
Heinrich Biber, Mystery Sonata #1, “The Annunciation”
Sometime in the late 17th century, the Bohemian composer Heinrich Biber (1644-1704) composed a series of 15 sonatas for accompanied violin. Known variously as the “Mystery Sonatas” or the “Rosary Sonatas,” each of the 15 sonatas in the collection corresponds to one of the mysteries in the life of Jesus and Mary that focused meditative devotion. Baroque violinist Fiona Hughes, a former member of our parish and our choir, has in the past played some of these sonatas as Preludes or Postludes during services at All Saints. With colleagues in the ensemble Three Notched Road, she has recorded several of the sonatas, including the first, which musically imagines the event…