Biber: Missa Salisburgensis, Requiem for 15 Voices

This set presents a lavish performance of Biber’s Missa Salisburgensis, composed for fifty-three vocal and instrumental parts to celebrate Salzburg’s 1100th anniversary as a centre of Christianity in 1682. It is coupled with the composer’s A-Major Requiem, which was barely known to music lovers at the time of the album’s release, in spite of the work’s immensely engaging and imposing style. In these 1992 and 1998 recordings, Ton Koopman and his Amsterdam forces bring to life the rich musical world of Biber beyond his better-known compositions for Baroque violin.