𝕳𝔦𝔩𝔡𝔢𝔤𝔞𝔯𝔡 𝔳𝔬𝔫 𝕭𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔫 - The Complete Works of Hildegard von Bingen, Sequentia

Ensemble: Sequentia Album: The Complete Works of Hildegard von Bingen Video: Hildegard’s Paintings • This monumental recording project, which began in Cologne in 1982 (with WDR Köln and Deutsche Harmonia Mundi) culminated in the final recording released by Sony in 2013. On nine CDs containing almost twelve hours of music, the musicians of Sequentia can be heard, under the direction of Barbara Thornton and Benjamin Bagby, in these legendary recordings. Over the course of 31 years, almost 60 vocalists and instrumentalists participated in this project. The Hildegard von Bingen project (1982-2012) 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 2012 (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 on the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi label. In addition to recording, the ensemble toured widely to critical acclaim in Europe, North America, Australia and Japan. In 2012 the final recording of the complete works, Celestial Hierarchy was brought to life by Sequentia’s co-founder and director Benjamin Bagby to commemorate the elevation of Hildegard von Bingen to Sainthood and Doctor Ecclesiae (2012), to finish Sequentia’s complete works project on the DHM label, and thus to honour the life’s work of Barbara Thornton (1950-1998). For this recording, a multi-generational ensemble of seven women’s voices was assembled under Bagby’s direction, together with the flautist Norbert Rodenkirchen and Bagby playing harp. One of the singers on this final recording had been a member of Barbara Thornton’s ensemble, while some others were not yet born when the first recording was made in 1982. I wish you happy listening! Mirko Virginio Volpe MUSICA MEDIEVALE • Buy: 🌻 The monetization of this channel is disabled to offer the highest possible listening quality. Please support the channel with a free donation: or