Radio

Hearing Biber on the Radio: Where Baroque Violin Music Fits the Airwaves

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber rarely tops a playlist, but his music turns up on the radio more often than many listeners expect. Classical and early-music broadcasts, public radio stations and internet streams that specialise in Baroque repertoire regularly programme his violin sonatas, his ensemble pieces and, above all, the Mystery (or Rosary) Sonatas. If you only know Biber from a single recording, radio is one of the easiest ways to hear how different performers approach the same pieces.

What you are most likely to hear

• The Rosary Sonatas: fifteen sonatas for violin and continuo plus a closing Passacaglia for solo violin. Most of them call for scordatura, retuning the violin's strings, so every sonata has its own colour.
• The Passacaglia: often broadcast on its own because it fits neatly into a programme slot. It is a set of variations over a repeated four-note descending bass.
• Battalia: a short, theatrical ensemble piece depicting soldiers and battle, with deliberately clashing tunes and effects such as paper threaded between the strings of the double bass.
• Sacred works: including the large-scale Missa Salisburgensis, now generally attributed to Biber, written for the many choirs and instrumental groups of Salzburg Cathedral.

Tips for listening

Radio presenters often name the performers and instruments, so it is worth noting them. Period-instrument groups using gut strings and Baroque bows sound lighter and more speech-like than modern orchestras, and with Biber the difference can be striking. If a broadcast catches your ear, our recordings guide can help you find complete versions to hear at home.

Many stations publish playlists after each programme, which makes it easy to trace a piece you heard in the car. Early-music shows also tend to feature themed weeks around anniversaries or festivals, so checking a station's schedule directly is the most reliable way to catch a Biber feature.

To place what you hear in context, read about his career in Kroměříž and Salzburg on our biography page, or browse the works overview to see how a single broadcast piece fits into his wider output.