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American Record Guide

Peter Sheppard Skaerved is as much a musi­cologist as he is a performer, and he has per­formed a valuable service with this release. He has travelled to a museum in Carinthia in southern Austria to examine a manuscript from around 1685 with compositions for solo violin. The composer is anonymous and might have been a nun from a convent in the area. What is most interesting about the music is that about half of it is written for vio­lin in scordatura, that is, unusual tunings. At the time this music was written, that was still a common practice, and the great Austrian violinist-composer Heinrich Ignaz Biber made it an important element of his famous Rosary Sonatas. Another interesting aspect of these performances is the very unusual violin Sheppard Skaerved uses. It is a Stradivarius from 1685, and it is about an inch shorter than normal. Sheppard Skaerved remarks in his booklet notes that the instrument turned out to be ideal for the tunings required, and it has a very pleasing sound. He uses a short, period bow.

The compositions are extremely brief; some are only half a minute long, and the

longest is about 2-1/2 minutes. They are almost entirely dance movements. There are frequent chords and double stops, so the vio­lin supplies its own harmony. It is more com­plex that most other music for violin of its time, though these are still a far cry from the contrapuntal masterpieces that Bach would write some 35 years later. It is pleasing but lacks the remarkable variety that Bach would bring to the genre. I must admit that this is some of the most important and best music written for solo violin of its time, and if it was written by a woman, it is sad that she remains anonymous, as she was clearly one of the very best composers for the violin of the time.

These were performed from a facsimile of the manuscript, and it appears that it has yet to be published. I hope that this release stim­ulates interest in this music so that it will be. The performances are heartfelt and spon­taneous. Very good sound and superb booklet notes.