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The Rosary Sonatas (also known as the Mystery Sonatas or Copper-Engraving Sonatas) by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber are a collection of 15 short sonatas for violin and continuo with a closing passacaglia for solo violin that are relevant to the Christian Rosary devotion practice and possibly to the Feast of the Guardian is presumed the Mystery Sonatas were completed around 1676, however they were unknown until their publication in 1905. The music of Biber was never entirely forgotten due to the high technical skill required to play many of his works; this is especially true of his works for violin. Once rediscovered, the Mystery Sonatas became Biber's most widely known composition. The work is prized for its virtuosic vocal style, scordatura tunings and its programmatic structure. In this particular sonata unique scordatura is used with the second and third strings crossed below the bridge and above the top of the neck thereby switching their standard placement on the fingerboard. Scordatura: G-G1-D1-D2 - CROSSED STRINGS I. Sonata - 0:05 II. Resurrexit Christus hodie / Cantus firmus - 2:18 III. Adagio - 6:08 Riccardo Minasi (baroque violin) Matteo Riboldi (organ) David Yacus (bass trombone) Le Bizzarrie Armoniche / Elena Russo (conductor)
