Violin Works (Includes Sonata Victori der Christen)

"Der Türken Anmarsch", a recording distinguished by extraordinarily inventive and committed performances, marks "the end of an era" for John Holloway. The album brings to a conclusion fourteen years of intensive work on Biber's music. "I have come to an ever greater admiration of Biber," Holloway says, "and of his immense contribution to the development of the violin as a serious instrument for Western music." As with his previous album "Unam Ceylum", the British violinist and his associates perform pieces from Biber's 1681 anthology, Sonatae Violino solo, which formed the cornerstone of his reputation.

Holloway's ECM recordings have received the highest critical praise. Of his earlier Biber album, Goldberg magazine wrote, "This is a disc of such stunningly brilliant virtuosity that it is hard to know where to start. This is music capable of moving from dynamic energy to eloquence in less time than it takes to write the words, music that can hurtle forward with seemingly unstoppable momentum only to fall back to calm, sensuous lyricism, music that can encompass everything from skilled counterpoint to rumbustious humour. Holloway's performance encompasses all of this with playing of amazing fluency and bravura passion... a staggering celebration of the art of violin playing".