Sonata Representiva for violin, cello, and keyboard; Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (International)

The violin works of Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704) represent the pinnacle of early Baroque violin performance and composition. Their technical difficulty, invention, improvisation, and countless innovations, like his extensive use of scordatura (the retuning of violin strings) to achieve dazzling resonant effects.

Biber's Sonata Violino Solo Representativa (1669?) for solo violin with basso continuo (cello and harpsichord) is one of his earliest surviving works and possibly his first work for violin. It is also quite possible the earliest programmatic work in the Western canon, evoking animal sounds like cats, frogs, and roosters, with startling chromatic and colorful effects unique for his time. This delightful and groundbreaking work receives its first practical performing edition with this release from International, edited by Kenneth Cooper and Patrick Wood. Includes fingerings, figured bass, and fully-realized ornaments, articulations, bowings, and dynamics, as well as an optional elaborated cello part.