Musical Offerings ⦁ 2024 ⦁ Volume 15 ⦁ Number 1 33 this collection. Every string of the violin is changed in this sonata from the usual G, D, A, and E, to B, F-sharp, B and D. Example 1. Biber, Violin Sonata No. 3, mvt. 1, mm. 1-4.29 In Biber’s “Rosary” sonatas, each sonata was assigned a specific rosary that accompanied the music. There were 15 different scenes, one for the first 15 sonatas. Biber wrote his music and seemingly determined his scordatura tuning based on these scenes. For example, Biber’s Sonata No. 7, as seen in the image of the rosary in Example 2, exemplifies Jesus being beaten in front of the people of Jerusalem. Example 2. Biber, Violin Sonata No. 7, mvt. 1, mm. 1-3, with rosary image.30 The tuning of an F major chord with the notes so close together emphasizes the pain of this moment. Lindsey Strand-Polyak, a historical Baroque artist, argues that “this tuning tortures the violin itself, with 29 Biber, 12. 30 Biber, 29.
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