Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

Started by arkiv, March 20, 2009, 10:32:49 AM

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arkiv

Let's interchange points of view about this medieval composer.

SonicMan46

Quote from: epicous on March 20, 2009, 10:32:49 AM
Let's interchange points of view about this medieval composer.

Hello Epicous - own quite a few CDs of this famous medieval German abbess, author, counselor, linguist, naturalist, scientist, philosopher, physician, herbalist, poet, visionary and composer (as quoted in her Wiki article) - what are your interests in her?  8)

arkiv

My interest is her approach to the mystical sphere projected in musical aura.

;D

Guido

Quote from: ' on March 20, 2009, 11:04:26 AM
The soccer team in her home town is called the Bingen Nothingness'

;D ;D
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away


Mirror Image

Only one page for this composer? :-\

Anyway, let's get some background information on Hildegard of Bingen first:



In the summer of 1098, a child was born to noble parents in Bermersheim, near Alzey, in modern-day Rheinhessen, and was christened Hildegard. By her own account, she was having visions at the age of five; her parents placed her in the care of a small nunnery when she was eight. Over an 81-year life-span, this remarkable woman would go on to lead the Abbey at Disibodenberg, and found two further convents of her own; she wrote three major theological works and a number of shorter treatises on natural history, herbalism, and healing, as well as the first surviving morality play and a large number of hymns and sequences. Her correspondence gave counsel and advice to many of the most prominent figures of her time, even to Frederick Barbarossa himself. She performed healings and a celebrated exorcism, and -- an extremely rare privilege for a woman -- took several officially sanctioned public preaching tours.

Hildebert and Mechtild, her parents, had promised this (their tenth child) to the Church's service, and gave the precocious 8-year-old as novice to Jutta of Spanheim, who led a small cell of nuns attached to the Benedictine monastery of Disibodenberg, near Bingen and the cathedral town of Mainz. Hildegard took her vows at the age of 15, and on Jutta's death in 1136 succeeded her as prioress of the small eremitic community. In 1141, God granted her a vision of flaming tongues descending upon her from heaven, and she devoted her life to following this mystic vision. Pope Eugenius III officially validated her religious visions at the Synod of Trier in 1148, and gave her permission to record them in written form. In addition to her writings, she began to attract further women to her community, and, between 1147 and 1150, she founded (against the wishes of her male superiors at Disibodenberg) a new abbey at Rupertsberg in the Rhine valley. Her ministry thrived and she established a daughter abbey at Eibingen around 1165. Four times in the 1160s she took preaching tours through the German lands, and after her death in 1179, Popes Gregory IX and Innocent IV proposed her canonization, followed by Clement V and John XXII, to no avail.

With the aid and encouragement of her monastic secretary Volmar, Hildegard began in 1141 to record her revelations; twenty-six visions comprise her first work, the Scivias, compiled over a ten-year period. Her prophetic and apocalyptic writings would later include the Liber vite meritorum (1158-63) and Liber divinorum operum (1163-70). In the interval between these volumes, Hildegard wrote two works on natural history (Physica) and medicine (Cause et cure), a commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict, lives of two saints, and a number of surviving sermons on sundry topics. Her interest in devotional poetry first shows up in the Scivias. In the early 1150s, she collected a large number of liturgical and devotional poems, each with associated music, such as the Symphonia armonie celestium revelationum, which also included her liturgical drama the Ordo virtutem. This work she continued to enlarge and embellish through her life. The "Sybil of the Rhine" also left a voluminous correspondence -- some three hundred surviving letters -- sending advice, prayers, teachings, encouragements, and often chastisement to popes, emperors, kings, archbishops, abbots and abbesses throughout Europe.

[Article taken from All Music Guide]

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I bought this box set of some of her music from the ensemble, Sequentia:



Besides the gorgeous choral music, Hildegard wrote some downright fascinating instrumental music, which are scattered throughout this set. Anyone else here a fan of Hildegard's music? Any favorite recordings? Don't be shy! :)

The new erato

Did she really write intrumental music, or is that just a performing choice? I would guess the latter, but inquiring minds want to know.

HIPster

#7
I find this recent release to be excellent.  Quite beautiful and moving:

[asin]B00O4DRAPW[/asin]


The new CD of Arianna Savall, Petter Udland Johansen and their ensemble Hirundo Maris is a new and outstanding approach to the music of Hildegard of Bingen. It is entirely devoted to the beauty, emotion and spiritual depth of the music of this great composer, philosopher and mystic and conveys the magic of her music in a truly affecting manner. The songs of Hildegard on this CD alternate with musical meditations newly written by Petter Udland Johansen to complement the emotional and atmospheric impact of the program.
Wise words from Que:

Never waste a good reason for a purchase....  ;)

Mirror Image

Quote from: The new erato on July 10, 2016, 08:21:45 PM
Did she really write intrumental music, or is that just a performing choice? I would guess the latter, but inquiring minds want to know.

I believe you're right. I think these instrumental works are merely transcriptions of some of her vocal pieces. They're certainly easy on the ear. That's for sure. :)

Mirror Image

Quote from: HIPster on July 10, 2016, 08:28:25 PM
I find this recent release to be excellent.  Quite beautiful and moving:

[asin]B00O4DRAPW[/asin]


The new CD of Arianna Savall, Petter Udland Johansen and their ensemble Hirundo Maris is a new and outstanding approach to the music of Hildegard of Bingen. It is entirely devoted to the beauty, emotion and spiritual depth of the music of this great composer, philosopher and mystic and conveys the magic of her music in a truly affecting manner. The songs of Hildegard on this CD alternate with musical meditations newly written by Petter Udland Johansen to complement the emotional and atmospheric impact of the program.

Cool, thanks for the recommendation. I'll keep it in mind.

HIPster

An absolute classic release, deserving of at least a listen ~

[asin]B000002ZGD[/asin]

This is the record that started the Hildegard craze back in 1982--and you need only listen to Emma Kirkby glide and soar through Columba aspexit (the opening hymn) to understand why. Gothic Voices performs the music very simply, either alternating soloists and unison choir over a drone or using a single unaccompanied voice. The singers render Hildegard's extravagant poetic imagery and melody not with the rhythmically fluid, ecstatic approach favored by Sequentia, but with equalist rhythm and a calm, meditative quality. Gothic Voices' straightforward approach is less likely to send you into a rapturous trance than is Sequentia's, but in the hands of such fine singers as Kirkby, Margaret Philpot, and Emily van Evera, Hildegard's extraordinary texts and melodies are captivating--and clear enough to linger in the memory as melodies rather than just sensations. This record is still Hyperion's bestselling title by far--try it and find out why. --Matthew Westphal
Wise words from Que:

Never waste a good reason for a purchase....  ;)

HIPster

OOP - and one I have never heard - but the group La Reverdie are uniformly excellent in Medieval music ~

[asin]B0001BBSCM[/asin]
Wise words from Que:

Never waste a good reason for a purchase....  ;)

Mandryka

I just want to mention a technique of instrumental accompaniment which Sequentia was experimenting with, and which I've been enjoying today. Basically they use a flute in a modest gentle way to shadow the vocal line. You can hear it on two tracks, Cum Erbuerint here

https://www.youtube.com/v/2-VO5FcWUhA

and Quam Mirabilis from Ordo Virtutum


https://www.youtube.com/v/3cd8AgtOo9M
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darĂ¼ber muss man schweigen