About the Glorious Mysteries

The Glorious Mysteries, the final set of sonatas in the Mysteries Sonatas cycle, begins with the Resurrection and the events of Easter. This piece deploys the most unusual scordatura tuning in this cycle; it is also the strangest tuning I’ve come across in any music period. The middle strings of the violin (the A and D strings) trade places, creating a double cross – one between the bridge and the tailpiece and another cross between the pegs and the nut. This cross symbolizes Christ’s cross. On the violin the pitches normally go from the lowest string (G), then D, then A then E – all ascending in pitch. This cross creates the a situation where the pitch goes from lowest to high then low and then the highest. Rather than having 4 different pitches, Biber creates two sets of octaves – a low g paired with a higher g and a low d paired with a higher d. After a flurry of improvisatory gestures, the sonata moves into an exploration of the hymn “Surrexit Christie hodie” – Christ is risen today.

Feast of the Rosary by Albrecht Dürer, 1506.