Hildegard of Bingen Robert White

White’s Lamentations are not as famous as Tallis’s, but their plangent harmonies and clashing lines have an equal intensity. This impressive debut disc by Gallicantus (an all-male group from the Tenebrae choir) includes White’s motets and hymns, emphasising his response to the texts and his eloquent way with the single Hebrew letters that begin each Lamentation. The vocal balance is slightly bass-heavy, but the sound is beautifully recorded.

Hildegard von Bingen & Peter Abelard - Jouissance - Ensemble Viriditas (1993) {Spectrum Publications 0 86786 344 7}
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© 1993 Spectrum Publications | 0 86786 344 7
Classical / Medieval / Early Music / Chant / 12th Century

VIRIDITAS was founded in 1991 by Juliette Hughes, initially to perform the Ordo Virtutum of Hildegard of Bingen. The group is dedicated to re-thinking the performance of music of the 12th-century Latin West in contemporary framework. It is also involved in the performance of 20th-century music, seeking to set up a dialogue between music of different traditions.

Ars Choralis Coeln presents Hildegard of Bingen’s large mystery play on CD. She was the most important universal scholar of the Middle Ages. Innumerable works give evidence of her impressive erudition and of her exceptional linguistic and musical talent. Not only during her lifetime did the abbess, poet, and composer Hildgard of Bingen have great influence on theological and societal nexuses, but even today she is esteemed throughout the world for her world view and visions.

The juxtaposition of old and new which lies at the heart of much Christmas music lends this recording by the mixed-voice Choir of The Queen’s College Oxford its theme. The repertoire ranges in period from Hildegard of Bingen to pieces composed during the last few years. The central work – Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols – vividly encapsulates the intersection of ancient and modern, setting medieval and Renaissance texts, and drawing on plainchant as musical inspiration, while – in its series of fresh, vivid, and sharply-etched miniatures – eschewing the sentimentality which had become attached to Christmas and its music.

Turn down the lights and get out your joss-sticks for this one: a selection of sixteenth-century Tenebrae music for Holy Week, among the most evocative parts of the liturgy. Since they had already made successful recordings of the Brumel, Tallis and White, it was a good idea for The Tallis Scholars to add new recordings of Tenebrae settings by Alfonso Ferrabosco the Elder and Palestrina. As Peter Phillips points out in his brief note, the only textual feature they have in common is their all ending with the passage “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum”. Otherwise the texts that the various composers selected from the Lamentations of Jeremiah are quite different; but all show an intensity and a devotional power that work cumulatively to produce a remarkably satisfying disc. And it is endlessly fascinating to hear the different approaches to these anguished texts.

Hildegard Von Bingen (ca. 1098-1179) - Chants de l'extase - Sequentia (1994) {Deutsche Harmonia Mundi - 05472 77555 2}
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© 1994 Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / BMG | 05472 77555
Classical / Medieval / Early Music / Sacred Vocal Music

In my copy’s booklet, there’s a translation botch by which the German “alle Stücke, die aus handschriftlichen Ausgaben musiziert werden, basieren auf direkten Konsultationen mit Wiesbaden MS, eingerichtet von Barbara Thornton” becomes “All pieces performed from diplomatic editions based on direct consultation with Wiesbaden Ms, prepared by Barbara Thornton”. How did “diplomacy” get involved with that, I don’t know. No, I take that back, I do know: it's probably "diplomatic" in the now rare sense of "related to diplomatics" (not diplomacy), which are "the science of deciphering old official documents, as charters, and of determining their authenticity, age, or the like".

The Complete Hildegard von Bingen, Vol. 1 - Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations (1996) {Celestial Harmonies 13127-2}
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© 1996 Celestial Harmonies | 13127-2
Classical / Medieval / Early Music / Religious / Chant

This first of four volumes of The Complete Hildegard von Bingen collection introduces listeners to a remarkable woman ahead of her time. Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) was born the tenth child to a noble family and was dedicated at birth to the church. At age three she began to have visions of luminous objects, but soon realized she was unique in this ability and kept these visions secret for many years. Hildegard's religious education, which began at the age of eight, consisted of an ascetic life of prayer and contemplation. At a time when few women were accorded respect, she lived to become a highly respected writer, poet, composer and visionary sought after for her counsel by bishops, popes and kings.

The Complete Hildegard von Bingen, Vol. 2 - Aurora - Sinfonye (1999) {Celestial Harmonies 13128-2}
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© 1999 Celestial Harmonies | 13128-2
Classical / Medieval / Early Music / Religious / Chant

This is the second volume of The Complete Hildegard von Bingen. Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) was born the tenth child to a noble family and was dedicated at birth to the church. At age three she began to have visions of luminous objects, but soon realized she was unique in this ability and kept these visions secret for many years. Hildegard's religious education, which began at the age of eight, consisted of an ascetic life of prayer and contemplation. At a time when few women were accorded respect, she lived to become a highly respected writer, poet, composer and visionary sought after for her counsel by bishops, popes and kings.