ROSENKRANZSONATEN​

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Première March 2025

ODEON Zwolle

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Dutch/ European Tour - Spring 2025

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Concept, Choreography: Samir Calixto

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Live Music:  'Die Rosenkranzsonaten' by H.I.F. Biber

Lead by Shunske Sato (solo violin)

with Anna Litvinenko (cello) & Israel Golani (theorbo)

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Dancers:

Camilla Montesi, Cristina Comiso, Erika Poletto, Samir Calixto, Thibault Desaules and others

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The Rosary Sonatas (Die Rosenkranzsonaten), also known as the Mystery Sonatas, are an important work by Bohemian-Austrian composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, constituting a cycle of fifteen violin sonatas and a passacaglia for solo violin. Composed around 1678, the work is rife with symbolic aspects which often invite connections to the study of ancient traditions such as the hermeticism and rosicrucianism. These, together with rather elusive evidences as to how the sonatas should be performed, has called forth a huge volume of hypothetical explorations around its spiritual and mystical contents. Apart from any speculations, it is the fruit of Biber’s great curiosity to explore the secret knowledge linking us to the great beyond, yielding a work of great intricacy and depth. Showcasing the complexity of a sacred book, the Rosenkranzsonaten hide among their structure and form references to, for instance, the ‘HarmoniceS Mundi’ by Johannes Kepler – the result of a lifelong search which provided for the first time scientific proof of the planetary movements in our system, promoting a significant shift of paradigms in the beginning of the 17th century.

It is by sharing the same fascination by these ancient secrets that choreographer Samir Calixto will search for inspiration for his new piece, possibly to become his most intricate creation to date. Tracing a parallel between the musical structure of the sonatas and the principles of the Quadrivium – the study of the four applied disciplines (harmony/ composition, astronomy, geometry and arithmetic) which has its origins traced back to Pythagoras - the choreographer will present a piece which synthesizes his vision: a work that transcends the body to integrate and transmit knowledge which is intrinsic to our human experience.

By uniting six dancers and first rate musicians on stage – led by acclaimed solo violinist Shunske Sato - the piece will represent an even deeper dive into the choreographer’s usual subject matter: our place into larger realities and the constant attempt of comprehending them.

 

 

BIBER IN THE TWENTIETH-FIRST CENTURY

 

Albeit their creation dating from centuries ago, the Rosary Sonatas carry within its core an element which is returning with incredible strength in the mindset of our contemporary society: the question of our place in the greater universe. The composition, created when our vision of the world’s place in relation to our planetary system was being systematically challenged by scientific discoveries seem to find a lot in common to the current moment, when scientists - specially in the field of astronomy - claim to be in the brink of discoveries which could challenge again mankinds conception of life’s creation. Such discovers could represent a shift comparable to those which took place by the time the sonatas were composed and, by consequence, lead us to rethink the dimension of our own existence. It is in this parallel that this particular work of Biber affirms its contemporaneity: on how, by reflecting certain universal truths in its own structure, it can bring us even closer to unveiling the intrinsic connection between the secret (or sacred) mathematics of the universe, revealing further glimpses of the mysteries between the unexplicable and the universe’s new frontiers.

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