Orginally from Bohemia, H.I.F. von Biber (1644-1704) was one of the most influential composers of the 17th century. He lived almost all of his professional life at the Court of Salzburg; his reputation as a violonist and his musical compositions rapidly spread throughout Europe, making him one of the founding masters of the German violin school.

“Causes and consequences” would be an apt subtitle for this CD. Battalia, composed in 1673, is a drama set to music. It consists of series of little tableaux threaded together by the action and narrated through highly original musical means which blend sound effects and popular influences.

The Requiem was created in 1687 at Salzburg Cathedral. The work gives a general impression of tranquillity, assurance and victory; it is a requiem of joy and triumph for a Christian life well-lived, rewarded by the promise of Paradise. Recorded in the cathedral in which the Requiem was created, the impressive sound quality of this CD emphasises the magnificence of Baroque religious music, which was itself a reflection of both the Church triumphant and the sumptuousness of the princely Courts of the period.