Erlebach - Richter - The Observer

All but 70 of the 1000 or more works of the Baroque composer Philip Heinrich Erlebach (1657-1714) were destroyed in a fire at the Rudolstadt court library in 1735. Of his 120 instrumental pieces, only six suites, one march and these six sonatas survive to bear witness to what we must be missing. They are handled with care by the violinist Rodolfo Richter, and are of particular interest for the composer's use of scordatura, or deliberate mistuning of the instrument, which yields some striking results.