Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber in the context of Scordatura

Baroque music (UK: /bəˈrɒk/ or US: /bəˈroʊk/) refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transition (the galant style). The Baroque period is divided into three major phases: early, middle, and late. Overlapping in time, they are conventionally dated from 1580 to 1650, from 1630 to 1700, and from 1680 to 1750. Baroque music forms a major portion of the "classical music" canon, and continues to be widely studied, performed, and listened to. The term "baroque" comes from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning "misshapen pearl". Key composers of the Baroque era include Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Henry Purcell, Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Philipp Telemann, Domenico Scarlatti, Claudio Monteverdi, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Alessandro Scarlatti, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Arcangelo Corelli, François Couperin, Heinrich Schütz, Dieterich Buxtehude, and Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber.

The Baroque saw the formalization of common-practice tonality, an approach to writing music in which a song or piece is written in a particular key; this type of harmony has continued to be used extensively in Western classical and popular music. During the Baroque era, professional musicians were expected to be accomplished improvisers of both solo melodic lines and accompaniment parts. Baroque concerts were typically accompanied by a basso continuo group (comprising chord-playing instrumentalists such as harpsichordists and lute players improvising chords from a figured bass part) while a group of bass instruments—viol, cello, double bass—played the bassline. A characteristic Baroque form was the dance suite. While the pieces in a dance suite were inspired by actual dance music, dance suites were designed purely for listening, not for accompanying dancers.

Karl II von Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn (1623–1695) was a Catholic priest and prince-bishop. In 1655 he was ordained priest in the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (a part of today's Austria). Between 1664 and 1695 he served as Prince-Bishop of Olomouc in Moravia (a part of today's Czech Republic). A cultured man who employed in his Kapelle Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, the virtuoso violinist and composer, he was also among other things a collector of music, and maintained close ties with the imperial court in Vienna throughout his career.

In the period of his episcopacy many people were executed for alleged witchcraft, including the dean Christoph Alois Lautner who was sentenced to death and burned alive by the inquisition court in which also the personal secretary of the archbishop Karl was the member.

The Rosary Sonatas (Rosenkranzsonaten, also known as the Mystery Sonatas or Copper-Engraving Sonatas) by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber are a collection of 15 short sonatas for violin and continuo, with a final passacaglia for solo violin. Instead of a title, each sonata has a copper-engraved vignette related to the Christian Rosary practice, and possibly to the Feast of the Guardian Angels.

It is presumed that the Mystery Sonatas were completed around 1676, but they were unknown until their publication in 1905. While Biber lost much popularity after his death, his music was never entirely forgotten due to the high technical skill required to play many of his works; this is especially true of his violin works. Once rediscovered, the Mystery Sonatas became one of Biber's most widely known composition. The work is prized for its virtuosic vocal style, scordatura tunings, and its programmatic structure.