Hildegard’ s Power of Eternity

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Vespers from the Abbey of St. Hildegard “O vis Aeternitatis”                Sung by the Bendictine Nuns of St. Hildegard, Bingen, led by J. Berchmans Göschl Engineering and editing: Christoph Martin Frommen Originally issued by Ars Musici © Mastered for Alto Records by Paul Arden-Taylor

Hildegard (1098-1179) was born in Germany in 1098, the tenth child of noble parents who promised her to convent life in 1106.  She took her vows in 1115, and in 1136 became the leader of her spiritual community. The Hildegard Abbey was consecrated in 1935, where this recording was made.

Hildegard regarded herself as “a mere vessel of God” through whom the complexities of scripture and language became clear through visions that she described as “extremely strong, sparkling, fiery lights” and that eventually were written down in a collection of poetry, in 400 letters, in theological discussions, and in works on medicine and natural healing.

The music of Hildegarde comprises settings mostly in plainchant of a mix of Antiphons, Responsorial Chant, and Sequences that utilize texts from the Book of Revelations, the Psalms and the Common of the Mass. The overall quality of the work is plain and pure, as is the singing, and both unencumbered by any compositional devices. It is music that comes from a time when the dividing line between the formality of composed music and music spontaneously sung, seemingly improvised, and preserved in the cloister by means of verbal instruction was tenuous at best.

The listener is induced into a stage of calm, non-judgmental listening made all the more hypnotic by the ethereal beauty of the soulful singing of the Bendictine Nuns of St. Hildegard, Bingen.

Rafael de Acha                  www.RafaelMusicNotes.com

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”