Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644-1704)
Harmonia artificioso-ariosa (1696)
Harmonie Universelle/Florian Deuter, Mónica Waisman
rec. 2025, Kirche St. Leodegar, Niederehe, Germany
Reviewed as lossless download
Accent ACC24418 [90]
This is the second recording of music by Heinrich Biber played by the German-based ensemble Harmonie Universelle and its musical directors Florian Deuter and Mónica Waisman that I’ve reviewed. The first (review) included string sonatas with trumpets, which gave them extra grandeur. The seven Partias presented here are more restrained, being for two strings and basso continuo, i.e. they are essentially trio sonatas. Five of the works are for two violins, the others being for violin and viola, and two violas d’amore. Six of the Partias employ scordatura, meaning that the two solo string instruments are tuned differently to normal. This presents a quite different soundworld to the listener, and I admit to finding it a little off-putting until my ears adjusted.
I presume the numbering of the Partias was by Biber or his publisher, and it is entirely logical that they have been programmed here in numerical order. However, Partia I in D minor is quite austere, and I struggled with the unfamiliarity of the harmonies, created by three of the four strings being differently tuned to normal. It took until the third movement of Partia III – an Amener – before I really started to enjoy what I was hearing. I hadn’t heard of a French suite movement of this name before but the excellent booklet notes informed me that it is “short for branle à mener, a guided processional dance through the hall”. Without that explanation, one might have expected it to be solemn, but it is marked as Presto and is a joyous and lively rustic dance. Suddenly, it clicked and I “got” the music, and when I returned to Partia I some time later, I could appreciate it much better. That said, I still think that it would have been better to start the album with Partia III, and given Partia VII is the most solemn of the set, it is perhaps not the best closer.
It is wonderfully inventive music, as I have come to expect from Biber, and such a contrast to the extravagance of the Missa Salisburgensis, with its huge choral and instrumental forces. Highlights include the Ciacona that closes Partia III, the Praeludium from Partia VI (which precedes a fourteen minute set of increasingly complex and virtuosic variations), and the whole of Partia IV.
In my previous review, I described the playing of Harmonie Universelle as ‘”stylish”, and on second exposure, that is insufficient praise: they are very fine indeed, and do not take HIP to extremes. The string timbres are not raw in any way. The sound is very good, with no extraneous noises, and all five members of the ensemble are given equal footing across the soundstage (I’ve heard some recordings where the basso continuo might as well have not turned up).
Unless you are already familiar with music employing scordatura tuning, I would start your listening at Partia III, and allow your ears to adjust as mine did. Once they do, you will be rewarded by wonderfully inventive music in very fine performances.
David Barker
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