In Season 1 we present the rich and unusual sounds of the seventeenth-century stylus fantasticus era. Heinrich Schmelzer, the famous composer associated for much of his life with the Habsburg Court in Vienna, developed string playing style and technique influencing later European  masters including Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber and Johann Sebastian Bach.

Schmelzer’s Sacro-profanus concentus musicus explores diverse character pieces such as Die Fechtschule (The Fencing School evoking battle) and the famous homage on the death of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III - Lamento sopra la morte di Ferdinand III, which exploits rhetorical gestures representing words and feelings from the art of Musica Poetica. Biber’s Mensa Sonora gives an insight into the furtive imagination of this most interesting of seventeenth-century composers who pushed the boundaries of style and effects. The organist and violinist Dietrich Becker’s rarely heard instrumental works are among the most rich and inventive of the seventeenth century.

Violinist Julia Fredersdorff on this programme:

"I think one of the most notable things about the music we are going to be playing is the context in which it was written. The late 17th Century in Germany was a bleak time amidst the death and destruction of the Thirty Years War. The composers lives were all touched by the horrors of one of the most destructive wars Europe has ever seen, and amazingly enough, this inspired them to compose music of great beauty. This may be seen as irrefutable evidence of the human spirit’s indomitable ability to find hope and beauty in the ashes of even the greatest tragedies."

Program

Dietrich Becker (1623–1679)

Pavan

Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (c. 1623–1680)

Lamento Sopra la Morte di Ferdinand III

Johann Jakob Froberger (1616–1667)

Toccata in D for solo harpsichord

Schmelzer

Fechtschule (Aria 1, Aria 2, Sarabande, Courente, Fechtschule, Bader Aria)

Becker (Sonata no. 3 Introduction, Adagio, Adagio, Presto, Conclusion)

Dieterich Buxtehude (1637–1707)

Sonata à 3 in G major

(Allegro, Adagio, Allegro, Adagio a 3, Allegro, Adagio, Allegro)

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644–1704)

Mensa Sonora Pars III

(Gagliarda, Sarabanda, Aria, Ciacona, Sonatina)

Artists

Julia Fredersdorff (violin), Anna McMichael (violin), Katie Yap (viola), Daniel Yeadon (cello and viola da gamba), Neal Peres Da Costa (harpsichord and organ)