Earlier in the Festival we featured Biber’s fifteen violin sonatas known as the Mystery Sonatas based on the Gospel story of the life of Jesus and his mother Mary. David Lang’s Mystery Sonatas, composed almost 350 years later, sets aside all religious orthodoxy but retains the intimate spirituality of the original including the three descriptive headings of Joy, Sorrow and Glory. There are seven sonatas demanding consummate virtuosity and bravery from the violinist for there is no place to hide.
