Luogo e data di registrazione		Bennebroek (Holland) - Aprile 1969
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Producer		Wolf Erichson
	Prima Edizione LP		Telefunken "Das Alte Werk" | SAWT 9556-B | 1 LP - durata 50' 28" | (p) 1969 | ANA
	Edizione CD		Teldec Classics "Gustav Leonhardt Edition" | LC 6019 | 3984-21761-2 | 1 CD - durata 77' 46"  | (c) 1998 | ADD | (Biber, Rosenmüller *) Teldec Classics "Gustav Leonhardt Edition" | LC 6019 | 3984-21766-2 | 1 CD - durata 49' 04"  | (c) 1998 | ADD | (Poglietti)
	Cover		"Musizierende Gesellschaft", Gemälde von Jan Miense Molenaer (um 1610-1668 Haarlem)
	Note		-

The development of German instrumental music in the -second half of the 17th century can be followed with especial clarity in the compositions of Biber and Rosenmiiller. Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644-1704) was in the service of the Archbishop of Salzburg, and counts as one of the foremost violinists of his time. His solo violin sonatas demand virtuoso playing in the higher positions, the art of double stopping and the technique of so-called “scordatura.” His ensemble music also reckons with instrumentalists of more than average ability. The three-part Suite in A major from the “Harmonia artificiosa” published posthumously in 1712, and the four-part Suite in A minor from the “Mensa sonora” (1680) are full of variety within their cyclical structure. The tempo, character and part-writing of the short pieces generate continual contrasts. Beside the employment of traditional dances, the penetration of freer forms is a noteworthy feature. Movements such as Praeludium, Balletto, Ciacona, Aria and Sonatina indicate an increasing “absolutizing” of the musical content during this period. Consistently following the path upon which he has begun, Biber renounces all direct connection with the dance in the “Sonatas,” as they are now called, of the “Fidicinium sacro-profanum” (i. e. suitable for church and court) published in 1681. In his Sonatas in A minor and D minor he favours an energetic style, at times with highly-skilled contrapuntal writing, in a saturated French-influenced five-part string texture. The slow movements have a spaciously organized rhythmic structure, full-sounding and well-balanced, while the fast ones often work with “fugatos” and display ‘greater virtuosity in their character. The tentative searching for new forms finds expression in evervarying combinations of movements. Whereas Biber has constructed the Sonata in D minor on the principle of increasing intensity, the climax being reached in the third movement, in the Sonata in A minor he lets a movement that is predominantly melodic always be followed by a quick, rhythmically concentrated one. The D minor Allegro in arpeggio character displays typical “concertante” features. Johann Rosenmüller (1620-1684), who was one generation older, was already writing ensemble sonatas under Italian influence eleven years before Biber. Originally active in Leipzig, he worked for many years in Venice until he was able to regain a foothold as a musician in North Germany. He already published his “Sonate da Camera” in 1670. These works are modelled both on the Italian opera sinfonia and on the older instrumental canzona, and clearly display a state of experiment in their basic plan. The Sonatas in F major and D minor are from his second sonata publication of 1682. The number of movements varies in these too, although a certain tendency towards standardization and typification of the cycle can be noticed. The sequence Fugato - Adagio - Allegro in triple time - Adagio - Fugato - Adagio - Allegro in triple time of the F major Sonata is modified in the D minor Sonata only through its lack of a closing fast movement. One is struck by the concentration of the motifs and the song-like character of the melodic line. Virtuosity, strength of the emotions and sensuousness of sound are the dominant features of these compositions. What basically distinguishes Rosenmüller from Biber, however, is his striving for increased expressiveness, which at times loses itself in the wandering fantasy of the slow movements, full of enchanting euphony (F major Sonata). This rhapsodic-improvisatory mode of writing was cultivated especially in North Germany in the late 17th century. The calmly flowing Ricercar by Alessandro Poglietti (d. 1683) is one of those imitatory instrumental pieces that are to be regarded as the immediate predecessors of the fugue. Composed before 1650, its structure is still tied to the original meaning of the word, inviting the listener to “seek” the many entries of the theme in the various parts. Lothar Hoffmann-Erbrecht