Hildegard of Bingen

Listen: there was once a king sitting on his throne. Around him stood great and wonderfully beautiful columns ornamented with ivory, bearing the banners of the king with great honour. Then it pleased the king to raise a small feather from the ground and he commanded it to fly. The feather flew, not because of anything in itself but because the air bore it along. Thus am I 'A feather on the breath of God'.

Seraphic Fire celebrates the release of its newest recording, Hildegard von Bingen: Ordo virtutum, with a performance of the work in a new production by lauded opera and Broadway stage director Francesca Zambello. The women of Seraphic Fire portray the struggle of the sweet-voiced Virtues against the songless, shouting Devil. Written in 1141, the Ordo virtutum has survived nearly 900 years through plagues, wars, schisms, reformations, and the dissolution of Hildegard’s convent. Celebrate as the women of Seraphic Fire bring this nearly millennia-old masterpiece back to life.

Subtitled “Tales of Remarkable Women Throughout the Centuries “ this tribute to the fairer sex features an Irish lady pirate, a Portuguese queen, a Montenegrin mother, a French countess, a Jewish-American socialist, the Virgin Mary, and St. Ursula together with 11,000 other virgins are all featured on Faces of a Woman by Tapestry, the fourth release by these three talented women from New England. The ensemble covers broad musical territory ranging from Hildegard von Bingen’s mystical and contemplative songs to Rachmaninoff ’s pleasing "Tebye poyem" and to swinging rhythms, from medieval operatic drama to Balkan folklore and to modern music, from the artistry of the ars novato sailors’ songs and to the first American blues

Psallentes - Ursula 11 - Hildegard von Bingen - Plainchant Pro Series Vol. 3 (2011) {Le Bricoleur LBCD/03}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 237 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 132 Mb
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© 2011 Le Bricoleur | LBCD/03
Classical / Medieval / Early Music / Sacred Works / Vocal

The Rhine turned crimson when the royal princess Ursula and her eleven thousand companions were slaughtered by the Huns. Many centuries later, Hildegard of Bingen composed a plainchant office in Ursula’s honour and sent a copy to the Abbey of Villers. The singers of Psallentes♀ sing from this famous manuscript (now housed in Dendermonde).

The solo violin recital is something of a black belt for violinists, as the fact of the violin playing alone tends to overwhelm in pieces that were not necessarily intended to be played together. Violinist Carolin Widmann does well here, and it's all the more impressive that there are few extended techniques of any kind, just a bit of pizzicato in one of the Three Miniatures for solo violin of George Benjamin. One thing that has attracted buyers to this commercially successful release is the presence of unusual pieces, not only the Benjamin but also the Fantaisie concertante of George Enescu.

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.

Hildegard von Bingen & Peter Abelard - Jouissance - Ensemble Viriditas (1993) {Spectrum Publications 0 86786 344 7}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 231 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 153 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 178 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 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.