Harmonia artificiosa, concert to mark the end of the residency of the Artifices ensemble
Ensemble Artifices will be presenting a residency performance of its new Harmonia artificiosa programme, co-produced by the Festival Le Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo.
Harmonia artificioso-ariosa, Biber's last work, which he dedicated to his daughter, is a work of maturity, and the end of a great era for the development of the violin language. This collection, published in 1696, follows on from the Rosary Sonatas, composed some twenty years earlier. The violinist, whose compositions perfectly embody the stylus fantasticus, continues his exploration of the instrument and its limits, as well as his use of scordatura.
In this concert, the 8 violins played by Alice Julien-Laferrière and Minori Deguchi will not be tuned in the usual way (in fifths), but with different chords, bringing a wealth of unsuspected sonorities, and adding to the virtuosity and mystery of these sublime and spectacular works, at the height of Baroque excess.
In the bass, we won't be outdone by the change of instruments: Cellist Maguelonne Carnus will also be playing the viola da gamba, Mathieu Valfré the harpsichord and organ, and Carles Dovador Jové the theorbo and percussion, providing rich combinations that highlight all the diversity of writing in this music.
After L'Harmonie des batailles and Les Mystérieuses sonates du Rosaire, Ensemble Artifices continues its exploration of Biber's powerful music. With this programme, Alice Julien-Laferrière offers a personal and colourful blend of sonatas from Biber's two emblematic collections, in which we find the influence of improvisation, dance, imitations of trumpets and timpani, and, always, the harmonic power that characterises this music.
Video presentation of the concert and the musicians: https://youtu.be/V6jYBGgHxLA
Harmonia artificioso-ariosa, Biber's last work, which he dedicated to his daughter, is a work of maturity, and the end of a great era for the development of the violin language. This collection, published in 1696, follows on from the Rosary Sonatas, composed some twenty years earlier. The violinist, whose compositions perfectly embody the stylus fantasticus, continues his exploration of the instrument and its limits, as well as his use of scordatura.
In this concert, the 8 violins played by Alice Julien-Laferrière and Minori Deguchi will not be tuned in the usual way (in fifths), but with different chords, bringing a wealth of unsuspected sonorities, and adding to the virtuosity and mystery of these sublime and spectacular works, at the height of Baroque excess.
In the bass, we won't be outdone by the change of instruments: Cellist Maguelonne Carnus will also be playing the viola da gamba, Mathieu Valfré the harpsichord and organ, and Carles Dovador Jové the theorbo and percussion, providing rich combinations that highlight all the diversity of writing in this music.
After L'Harmonie des batailles and Les Mystérieuses sonates du Rosaire, Ensemble Artifices continues its exploration of Biber's powerful music. With this programme, Alice Julien-Laferrière offers a personal and colourful blend of sonatas from Biber's two emblematic collections, in which we find the influence of improvisation, dance, imitations of trumpets and timpani, and, always, the harmonic power that characterises this music.
Video presentation of the concert and the musicians: https://youtu.be/V6jYBGgHxLA