Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

The credit of Biber, Jordi Savall leaves a great deal unsaid so let us start by filling out these bare bones. Bohemian virtuoso violinist and composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704) spent the last 24 years of his life at the court of the Archbishop of Salzburg, after earlier service with the Prince-Bishop of Olmütz. By his death he was recognised as one of the leading Austrian composers of his day although since then he has been superseded by Haydn and Mozart to name just two, relegating Biber to leading Austrian composer of the Baroque period. If anyone is going to restore Biber's reputation it is the redoubtable Jordi Savall with the massed forces of Hesperion XXI, Le Concert Des Nations and La Capella Reial de Catalunya. The main event on this SACD is Biber's 'Missa Salisburgensis a 54' which is perhaps the largest-scale piece of extant sacred Baroque music, an archetypical work of the Colossal Baroque. It is a polychoral composition which takes advantage of the multiple organs and various locations available for groups of singers and musicians to perform in Salzburg Cathedral, probably for the 1682 celebrations marking the 1100th anniversary of the founding of the Archbishopric of Salzburg. This fills 43 of the 71 minutes playing time most acceptably but some of the other material is not music that I listen to very often. The "Battalia a 10" for example which was written for string orchestra, with its imitation gunfire and drunken soldiers is interesting but again not something to which I will return. However the presentation as a whole is outstanding with a well illustrated CD booklet with everything you could possibly want to know and the musicianship is just as good. If you enjoy Baroque choral music the 'Missa Salisburgensis' is well worth hearing but you may want to look at some of the other recordings out there and see what they have alongside the Mass.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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