Vagina civilization(2)
Hildegard of Bingen:Antiphons (12th CENTURY)
Genre:Choral
Director:Benjamin Bagby
Performers:Seguentia
Year record:1993
Label：Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 05472 773202
Born in 1098,Hildegard entered a combined Benedictine monastery and nunnery near Worms in the Rhineland at the age of fourteen and become abbess there in 1136.Seeking the freedom to reform practices within her order,she later moved,with a group of followers,to a new sanctuary at Rupertsberg,near Bingen.The new institution gradually gained recognition and Hildegard was officially aknowledged as the abbess in 1163.
Hildegard was particularly famous for the visions that she had experienced from her early years(although modern scholarship may attribute such a claim to her epileptic mature),and her output,both musical and literary,is said to have resulted from what saw in her visions.Hildegard’s musical compositions include seventy-seven vocal works(of which forty-three are antiphons);these are often collectively known as Symphonia armonie celestium rvelationum.(An antiphon is a chant”sung against” a psalm in the Divine Office,often in the manner of a refrain between the verses of psalm.) Although Hildegard must have composed her antiphons with particular church feasts in mind,it is almost impossible now to allocate each to an exact occasion.
Among the several available recordings,Sequentia’s is highly recommendable.The group,which specializes in medieval music,has released several CDs of Hildegard’s legacy(four in addition to the one listed here).They interweave the beauty of refined yet natual voices with period instruments.This recording includes eight of Hildegard’s antiphons,among which”0 virga mediatrix” is supported by a harp while”Cum processit factura” is accompanied by two fiddles. The result is a superbly mystic atmosphere.
