War Memorial Auditorium

Hearing Biber in a Historic Nashville Hall

The War Memorial Auditorium opened in the 1920s as a memorial to Tennesseans who served in the First World War, and its classical columns and formal plaza still frame the building as a civic monument as much as a concert space. For listeners drawn to Heinrich Biber, that sense of ceremony is fitting. Much of Biber's music was written for the court and cathedral of Salzburg, where he served the Prince-Archbishop, and it was meant to sound in rooms that carried weight and dignity.

Biber's best-known pieces, the Rosary Sonatas (sometimes called the Mystery Sonatas), call for a solo violin with continuo, and most require scordatura, a deliberate retuning of the violin's strings. Each retuning changes the instrument's resonance, so the acoustic of the hall matters a great deal. In a room of moderate size, the altered sympathetic ringing of the strings can be heard clearly, and the closing unaccompanied Passacaglia gains a quiet intensity that is easily lost in larger arenas.

Tips for concertgoers

• Check listings carefully. Early music programmes appear only occasionally, so look at the presenter's official announcements for dates, repertoire and tickets rather than relying on older notices.
• Read up on the instruments. Period ensembles often use gut strings, baroque bows and lower tuning pitch, which give a softer, warmer sound than modern orchestras.
• Arrive early. Downtown parking near the State Capitol area can fill quickly on event evenings, and arriving early lets you take in the building's architecture before the performance.
• Sit with intent. For solo violin or small chamber groups, seats nearer the centre often give a more balanced, intimate sound.

If you want to prepare before a concert, our guide to Biber's works explains the sonatas, the large-scale sacred pieces such as the Missa Salisburgensis attributed to him, and the programmatic Battalia. You can also compare interpretations on our recordings page and keep an eye on events for performances of baroque repertoire around Nashville.