Bohemia
Now available to pre-order!
Van Diemen's Band's latest release explores the tumultuous era of the Thirty Years' War.
The Bohemian lands were fertile ground for musical experimentation and instrumental virtuosity. Composers such as Johann Heinrich Schmelzer exploited techniques and compositional structures from Italy, Germany and France, and invented their own unique rhetorical voice. This inventiveness reached its zenith in the works of Heinrich Franz Ignaz Von Biber, particularly for the violin.
Prague attracted many visitors including organists Johann Pachelbel from Germany and Georg Muffat from present-day France. The latter’s violin sonata has ended up amongst the famous Kroměříž collection in Oulomuc (Czech Republic). The collection also houses many other works featured on this recording, including the Sonata in D by Johann Christoph Pezel, as well as the anonymous Sonata Jucunda (attributed to either Biber or Schmelzer) - a playful work featuring musical quotations of the music of Bohemia’s neighbours, Hungary and the Ottoman lands.
BOHEMIA highlights the humour, joy and hope musicians clearly brought to their practice in the mid to late 17th Century, despite the pain and suffering inflicted by the brutal Thirty Years’ War which had ravaged the region. Music was and still is, the universal tool to unite and to heal.
Pre-order your copy today for delivery in late April 2025.
BOHEMIA will also be available on your favourite streaming service.
DIETRICH BECKER (1623-1679)
1. Paduana à 5 from Musicalische Frühlings-Früchte
ANON (ATTRIBUTED TO H.I.F. VON BIBER OR J.H. SCHMELZER)
2. Sonata Jucunda
JOHANN PACHELBEL (1653-1706)
Canon and Gigue in D Major for Three Violins and Basso Continuo
3. Canon
4. Gigue
JOHANN KASPAR KERLL (1627-1693)
5. Toccata VIII
GEORG MUFFAT (1653-1704)
6. Sonata violino solo
JOHANN CHRISTOPH PEZEL (1639-1694)
7. Sonata in D
JOHANN JAKOB FROBERGER (1616-1667)
8. Plainte faite à Londres pour passer la Melancholie from Partita in A minor FbWV630/1
HEINRICH IGNAZ FRANZ VON BIBER (1644-1704)
9. Ciacona from Mensa Sonora Pars III
VAN DIEMEN'S BAND
JULIA FREDERSDORFF ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & VIOLIN
ELIZABETH WELSH VIOLIN
JENNIFER OWEN VIOLIN, VIOLA
KATIE YAP VIOLA
LAURA VAUGHAN, BRETT RUTHERFORD VIOLA DA GAMBA
KIRSTY MCCAHON VIOLONE
DONALD NICOLSON HARPSICHORD
HANNAH LANE BAROQUE TRIPLE HARP
CHAD KELLY CHAMBER ORGAN
JULIA FREDERSDORFF EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
HAIG BURNELL SOUND ENGINEER
ELIZABETH WELSH PRODUCER
DIRK LORENZEN OPERATIONS MANAGER
RACHEL MEYERS ARTIST LIAISON
KATIE YAP EDITING ASSISTANCE
Recorded at Stanley Town Hall 20-25 January 2022
BOHEMIA was made possible with the contributions of many generous donors:
Robyn Arvier, Sally Attrill, Paul Bentley-Angell, Kim Bishop, Stephen Block, Edwina Brown, Carmen Burnet, David Davey, David Day, Nick Dinopoulos, Phillip England, Jennifer Ettershank, Marguerite Foxon, Susie Furphy, Olivia G, Liz Gillam, Anne Gilles, Danny Gillespie, Jennifer Godfrey, Felix Hayman, Don Hempton, David Hoffman, Miriam Johnson, Jennifer Kerr, Charles Kiefel, Nicky Lawrence, Margaret Lehmann, Darren Loves, Anna Maguire, Jo Matthews, Rowena McDougall, Wendy McLeod, Amy Moore, Mairi Nicolson, Ken & Liz Nielsen, Bill Oakley, Peter O'Malley, Kevin Orrman-Rossiter, Scott Parkes, Ann Penhallow, Ann Pickering, Nella Pickup, Anna Ritchie, Estelle Ross, Harley Russell, Mike Severs, Drew Thomas, Kerry Thomas, John Upcher, Laura Vaughan, Veronika Vincze, Lesley Wickham, Eric Yeo, Louise, Anonymous x 9.
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, and by the Tasmanian Government through Arts Tasmania.