Biber, Heinrich Ignaz Franz (EN)

Biber, von Bibern, Heinrich Ignaz Franz, *12 August 1644 Straž pod Ralskem (near Liberca, Czeskie Sudety), †3 May 1704 Salzburg, the Austrian composer and violinist of a Czech origin. It is not known where he studied music – probably in Prague or Dresden; he probably also studied with J.H. Schmelzer in Vienna. Until 1670, he was a musician in the court band of Archbishop Karl von Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn in Olomouc and Kroměříž. From 1670, he worked at the court of Archbishop Maximilian Gandolph. von Kuenburg, later Johann E. von Thun in Salzburg. From 1677, he was a teacher of figured singing in the cathedral boys’ choir in Salzburg, and from 1684, he was a prefect of the boys’ singing school. On 12 January 1678, he became vice-bandmaster of the music ensemble at the archbishop’s court in Salzburg, and from 6 March 1684 – bandmaster and at the same time pantler of the same court. In 1690, Emperor Leopold I granted him nobility. Biber was known at many courts of the time; he enjoyed particular recognition at the Bavarian court. Biber’s son, Karl Heinrich (composer and court bandmaster of the Archbishop of Salzburg) is the author of a concise biography of his father, written for J. Mattheson and included in his Grundlage einer Ehren-Pforte (Hamburg 1740). Biber was a representative of the music of the middle baroque period, and together with J.J. Walther was one of the leading creators of violin music in the Austro-German circle in the second half of the 17^th century. Among Biber’s rich and diverse oeuvre, his instrumental compositions are of particular importance; these are works with a multi-voice ensemble, sometimes resembling an orchestra (including approximately 25 compositions with the term sonata in the title), sonatas for solo violin and basso continuo (approx. 25) and pieces for two instruments with basso continuo (7 partitas from Harmonia artificiosa-ariosa). In his ensemble works, the composer quite often introduced colourful combinations of instruments, and that’s why his works are connected, among others, with the works of E.J. Vejvanovský, who also worked in K. Liechtenstein’s ensemble. Biber’s works represent various cyclical arrangements, often suites with various orders of dance and non-dance parts.

Sonatas for solo violin and basso continuo are of historical importance. In formal terms, each of these sonatas presents a different arrangement of the cycle; the introductory parts are usually free preludes, similar in texture to the organ toccatas, and the next parts are a dance with double, e.g. sarabande or giga. Biber’s solo sonatas often feature arias with variations, sometimes based on ostinato bass. Biber was particularly keen on using forms based on basso ostinato or returning bass. The exceptions include songs in which there are no variations of this type. Sometimes the entire sonata or several of its movements have the same ostinato formula in the bass. The passion for ostinato forms is associated with the frequent appearance of chaconne and passacaglia in Biber’s sonatas. Subsequent variations are devoted to various technical problems in the violin part and are more and more elaborately developed (complicated figuration). Biber’s most famous violin compositions include a collection of 16 solo sonatas with basso continuo, Zur Verherrlichung von 15 Mysterien aus dem Leben Mariae. The title of the cycle and the individual sonatas come from the illustrations found next to the subsequent works. These works are not illustrative, though; only in their mood (especially the introductory parts), do they refer to the content of the illustrations (the mysteries of the rosary). A clearer connection between the content of the illustration and the piece is visible only in Sonata No. 6 “Leiden Christi am Ölberg” (initial Lamento), No. 11 “Auferstehung Christi” (part 2, in which the melody of Surrexit Christus hodie returns in the bass voice), No. 12 “Christi Himmelfahrt” (Intrada and Aria tubicinium). Sonata No. 16 – passacaglia (G minor) for solo violin without basso continuo – is the first piece of this type in violin literature. In this very complex composition, the bass voice, based on the theme of the first type of chaconne bass, returns over 60 times. Illustrative elements (imitazione della natura) are present in, among others, such works as Battalia (Sonata di Marche) and Sonata in A “Representatio avium.”

Biber’s sonatas are written with a great sense of the instrument’s capabilities. The composer, an accomplished virtuoso himself, significantly developed his violin technique; he used a wide scale of the instrument: G–a³, high positions (up to 7), also on lower strings. It required various methods of bowing, including quick changes of the bow, performing entire movements using pizzicato (Serenade à 5) and long figures in staccato, which he noted. He liked to use double stops, most often created as a result of two independent melodic lines, as, for example, in Sonata No. 8 from the collection published in 1681 (gara di due violini in uno). He became famous for his bold use of scordatura, which was not introduced so often by anyone. In Sonata No. 14 (from the collection Zur Verherrlichung), the composer demands a different tuning of the strings in each piece, and in Sonata No. 11, he introduces a scordatura that seems almost impossible today: g, g¹, d¹, d². Tuning the strings was closely related to the key of the piece (empty strings = basic sounds of the key, stronger sounding), enabled the performance of chords that would not be possible without scordatura, facilitated the implementation of rich figurations, and created colour effects and sound nuances. Biber’s works combine elements of various styles: Italian arias with variations, French doubles and the German type of rhythmic variation, using one type of figuration in each subsequent variation. Biber’s entire instrumental work has a very individual character, resulting from the type of melody and often aphoristic musical thoughts. His instrumental works unfairly overshadow his rich vocal work (liturgical and stage works). In religious works written for the Salzburg cathedral, Biber makes excellent use of its acoustics (e.g. in the seven-choir Missa Salisburgensis, formerly attributed to Orazio Benevoli), he freely uses the prima and seconda pratica styles, and masters the concerto technique.

Literature: G. Adler, introduction to «Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich» V, 2 1898; E. Luntz, introduction to «Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich» XII, 2 1905; E. Luntz Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Vienna 1906; M. Schneider Zu Bibers Violinsonaten, “Zeitschrift der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft” VIII, 1906–07; G. Beckmann Das Violinspiel in Deutschland Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber vor 1700, Leipzig 1918; P. Nettl Zur Geschichte der Musikkapelle des Fürstbischofs Liechtenstein, “Zeitschrift für Musikwissenschaft” IV, 1922; P. Nettl Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber von Bibern, «Sudetendeutsche Lebensbilder» I, Reichenberg 1926; P. Nettl Der deutsch-böhmische Geiger Biber und die Quellen seiner Kunst, in: Sudetendeutsches Jb., Eger-Kassel 1926; C. Schneider Biber als Opernkomponist, “Archiv für Musikwissenschaft” VIII, 1927; E.H. Meyer Die mehrstimmige Spielmusik des 17. jahrhunderts in Nord- und Mitteleuropa, Kassel 1934; E. Schmitz Bibers Rosenkranzsonaten, “Musica” V, 1951; P. Nettl Forgotten Musicians, New York 1951; E.H. Meyer Die Bedeutung der Instrumentalmusik am Fürstbischöflichen Hofe zu Olomouc in Kroměřiž, “Die Musikforschung” IX, 1956; W. Newmann The Sonata in the Baroque Era, Chapell Hill 1959, ²1966; P. Nettl Heinrich Franz Biber von Bibern, “Studien zur Musikwissenschaft”  XXIV, 1960 (with a list of compositions); D.D. Boyden Reviews of Records, “The Musical Quarterly” XLIX, 1963 (review of a recording of Biber’s violin sonatas); D.D. Boyden The History of Violin Playing, London 1965, ²1967; J. Sehnal Die Kompositionen Heinrich Bibers in Kremsier (Kromĕřiž), “Sbornik prcí filosofické fakulty brněnské university”, Rada hudebněvědna (H) XIX, 1970; S. Dahms Neues zur Chronologie der Opern von Biber und Moffat, „Österreichische Musikzeitschrift” XXIX, 1974; W. Jaksch Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber „Requiem a 15…”, «Beiträge zur Musikforschung» V, Munich 1977; E.Th. Chafe The Church Music of Heinrich Biber, «Studies in Musicology» XCV, 1987; W. Jaksch „Missa Alleluia”. Quellenlage und Einordnung einer mehrchörigen Messe des Salzburger Domkapellmeisters Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644–1704), “Kirchenmusikalisches Jahrbuch” LXX, 1987; P. Wollny Heinrich Ignaz Franz Bibers „Harmonia artificioso-ariosa”. Zu Druckgeschichte und Werkgestalt, “Schütz-Jahrbuch” X, 1988; Ch. Berger Musikalische Formbildung im Spannungsfeld nationaler Traditionen des 17. Jahrhunderts. Das „Lamento” aus Heinrich Ignaz Franz Bibers Rosenkranzsonate Nr. 6, “Acta Musicologica” LXIV, 1992; J. Sehnal Heinrich Bibers Beziehungen zu Kremsier, in: De editione musices, G. Croll’s commemorative book, ed. W. Gratzer and A. Lindamyr, Laaber 1992; S. Dahms, Bibers Oper “Chi dura la vince” and E. Kubitschek, H.I.F. Bibers Instrumentalschaffen, “Österreichische Musikzeitschrift” XXXXIX, 1994; M.  Lutz, Die Sonata Violino Solo Representativa von Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644-1704) und ihre musikalischen Vorbilder, w: Musik des 17. Jahrhunderts und Pavel Vejvanovský, Brno, 1994; E.  Kubitschek, Der kompositorische und spieltechnische Einfluß von Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, in: Die Entwicklung der Ouvertüren-Suite im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert, E. Thom’s commemorative book, ed. B. Siegmund, G. Fleischhauer, W. Ruf, F. Zschoch, Blankenburg 1996; Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber. Kirchen- und Instrumentalmusik, ed. G. Walterskirchen, Salzburg 1997; D. Glüxam, Die ›Rosenkranz-Sonaten‹ von H. I. F. Biber: ein Zyklus mit Vorgeschichte, “Österreichische Musikzeitschrift” LIV, 1999; A. Kircher, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644–1704): Komponist und Geigenvirtuose am Höhepunkt barocker Kirchenmusik in Salzburg, “Singende Kirche“, V, 2004; E. Kubitschek, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber und Georg Muffat: Zwei Meister nicht nur der Instrumentalmusik, “Österreichische Musikzeitschrift“, LIX 2004; S. Heilgendorff, Bibers Battalia: Schlachtmusik zum Karneval?, “Österreichische Musikzeitschrift“, LXII 2007; J. Hermand, Francesco Maria Raffaelini und Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber: Chi la dura la vince (1691). Die erste Arminio-Oper im Heiligen Römischen Reich, in: Glanz und Elend der deutschen Oper, ed. J. Hermand, Köln 2008; E. Rathgeber, Tafeln für die Geistlichkeit: Heinrich Ignaz Franz Bibers Sonatae tam aris, quam aulis servientes, in: Wiener Musikgeschichte: Annäherungen—Analysen—Ausblicke. H. Krones’s commemorative book, ed. J. Bungart, M. Helfgott, E. Rathgeber, N. Urbanek, Vienna 2009; Ch.E. Brewer, The instrumental music of Schmeltzer, Biber, Muffat and their contemporaries, Ashgate 2011; W.K. Kreyszik, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Bibers Teilhabe am kulturellen Transfer von Venedig nach Salzburg: Die Missa Salisburgensis im Kontext der von San Marco ausgehenden Cori spezzati-Tradition im Zuge einer erweiterten antiphonalen Praxis, in: Von Venedig nach Salzburg, ed. G. Ammerer, I. Hannesschläger, T. Hochradner, Vienna 2015; V. Papadopoulou, ‘Und sein Schweiß war wie Blut’: Verhältnis zwischen Musik und Bibeltext in Bibers sechster Rosenkranzsonate, “Dissonance: Schweizer Musikzeitschrift für Forschung und Kreation“ CXXXII, 2015; G. Roseen, Physicality and devotion in Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber’s Rosary sonatas, “Yale journal of music and religion” IV, 2018; L. Lütteken, Musik in emblematischer Denkform: Bibers ‘Rosenkranzsonaten’, in: Musik im Zusammenhang, P. Revers’s commemorative book, ed. K. Aringer, Ch. Utz, T. Wozonig, Vienna 2019; J. De Souza, Instrumental transformations in Heinrich Biber’s Mystery sonatas, “Music theory online“ XXVI, 2020.