Projects

Hildegard von Bingen

Since the early 1980’s, Sequentia’s name has been closely linked with the music of Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), the visionary abbess and healer whose spiritual compositions are among the most astonishing and unique creations from the dynamic milieu of 12th-century Benedictine monasticism. Hildegard referred to her songs collectively as ‘The Harmonious Music of Celestial Revelations’ (symphoniae harmoniae celestium revelationum), a title meant to indicate their divine inspiration as well as the idea that music is the highest form of human activity, mirroring the ineffable sounds of heavenly spheres, angelic choirs and the individual human soul. Between 1151 and 1158 this visionary ‘Sibyl of the Rhine’ began to collect her musical creations, most of them intended to be sung by the sisters of her convent at the Rupertsberg (on the Rhine at Bingen), as a complement to the traditional Gregorian chant sung during liturgical and other functions. Anyone who has sung her music knows that it counts among the most sublime, virtuosic and demanding vocal repertoires ever created. “It is said that you are raised to Heaven, that much is revealed to you, that you bring forth great writings, and discover new manners of song…” wrote Master Odo of Paris in 1148. Then, as now, Hildegard was admired for fearlessly exploring the soul’s place in the cosmos and giving it voice through her unique musical vision.

Sequentia was among the first vocal ensembles to revive Hildegard’s music in our time, working closely from the medieval manuscript sources and employing concepts of performance practice which would have been known to the abbess and her Benedictine sisters in the 12th century. Under the general direction of the late Barbara Thornton, and working closely with musicologists and philologists (especially Leo Treitler, Peter Dronke and Barbara Stühlmeyer) many of the world’s foremost vocalists and instrumentalists in historical music performance joined Sequentia to perform and record Hildegard’s works on a regular basis between 1982 and 1999 (see list of musicians below). From the beginning, the entire project was supported generously by the West German Radio in Cologne (producers Alfred Krings and Klaus L Neumann), which co-produced most of the recordings. In addition to recording, the ensemble toured widely to critical acclaim in Europe, North America, Australia and Japan.

The Sequentia recordings of Hildegard’s works are contained on 7 releases (almost 10 hours of music) for the DHM label and include all but a few of Hildegard’s 75 symphoniae as well as her music drama Ordo Virtutum (recorded twice, with an interval of 15 years between the two radically different productions). One of these releases, Canticles of Ecstasy, received several international awards (including an Edison Prize, a Disque d’Or, and a Grammy nomination for best choral recording) and sold more than half a million copies worldwide.

In 2009 an introductory anthology, made up of exceptional tracks from six of Sequentia’s releases on DHM, was released to highlight not only Hildegard’s melodic and textual genius, but also the striking varieties of mode, structure, color, and scale which define her work. Complete program notes and a more profound look at Hildegard’s music can be found in the detailed booklets of the original Sequentia CDs – all still available on DHM -- from which this anthology was made.

Hildegard von Bingen releases on DHM
(with year of recording/release)

Ordo Virtutum (1982/83) no longer available
Symphoniae (1982-3/85)
Canticles of Ecstasy (1993/94)
Voice of the Blood (1994/95)
O Jerusalem (1995/97)
Saints (1996/98)
Ordo Virtutum (1997/98)

Musicians featured on Sequentia’s Hildegard Project recordings

Women’s voices: Gundula Anders, Rebecca Bain, Pamela Dellal, Suzanne Ehly, Jill Feldman, Elizabeth Glen, Ellen Hargis, Maria Jonas, Lydia Heather Knutson, Guillemette Laurens, Theresa Lister, Nancy Mayer, Laurie Monahan, Marianne Nielsen, Lena Susanne Norin, Caitriona O’Leary, Lucia Pahn, Margaret Raines, Sally Sanford, Consuelo Sañudo, Carol Schlaikjer, Diane Severson, Allegra Silbiger, Candace Smith, Barbara Thornton (director), Caroline Trevor, Janet Youngdahl

Men’s voices: Benjamin Bagby (director), John Fleagle, Stephen Grant, Paul Guttry, Peter Halpern, William Hite, Frank Kelley, Wolfgang Kläsener, Stefan Klöckner, Klaus Lohmann, Eric Mentzel, Mark McSweeney, Peter Schmitz, Bernhard Schneider, Bernhard Schüth, Burkhard Wiggeshoff.

Instrumentalists: Benjamin Bagby (harp & organistrum), Sarah Cunningham (fiddle), Liane Ehlich (flute), Rachel Evans (fiddle), Elizabeth Gaver (fiddle), David Hart (flute), Joachim Kühn (organistrum), Na’ama Lion (flute) Robert Mealy (fiddle), Elisabetta de Mircovich (fiddle), Norbert Rodenkirchen (flute), Barbara Thornton (portative organ), Margriet Tindemans (fiddle).

Upcoming Concerts

19 June 2010
Montalbâne Festival, Germany
Fragments for the End of Time

24 September 2010
Cité de la Musique, Paris
The Rheingold Curse

See full concert schedule

News

Early Music America Annual Award

Early Music America, the national service organization for the field of early music, has announced the winners of its 2010 awards recognizing outstanding accomplishments in early music. Benjamin Bagby will receive the Howard Mayer Brown Award for lifetime achievement in the field of early music. The awards will be presented at the EMA Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony at the Berkeley Early Music Festival on 11 June 2010.

Visions of Paradise

In September 2009 a new film about the life of Hildegard von Bingen, directed by Margarethe von Trotta and starring Barbara Sukowa, was released in Germany. More

Interview with Benjamin Bagby

WNYC, New York Public Radio, aired an interview with the ‘Beowulf’ performer, B. Bagby. Listen to the show

Beowulf on DVD

Benjamin Bagby’s legendary performance of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf (part I) recorded live in Helsingborg, Sweden.
Visit the Beowulf website