The Life and Works of Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
Introduction
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was a remarkable woman, a "first" in many fields. At a time when few women wrote, Hildegard, known as "Sybil of the Rhine", produced major works of theology and visionary writings. When few women were accorded respect, she was consulted by and advised bishops, popes, and kings. She used the curative powers of natural objects for healing, and wrote treatises about natural history and medicinal uses of plants, animals, trees and stones. She is the first composer whose biography is known. She founded a vibrant convent, where her musical plays were performed. Although not yet canonized, Hildegard has been beatified, and is frequently referred to as St. Hildegard. Revival of interest in this extraordinary woman of the middle ages was initiated by musicologists and historians of science and religion. Less fortunately, Hildegard's visions and music had been hijacked by the New Age movement, whose music bears some resemblance to Hildegard's ethereal airs. Her story is important to all students of medieval history and culture and an inspirational account of an irresisible spirit and vibrant intellect overcoming social, physical, cultural, gender barriers to achieve timeless transcendence.
Hildegard was an abbess, prophetess, poet, healer, theologian, and musician. She was born in one of the most innovative and creative centuries of the Middle Ages, and is herself symbolic of the apex of medieval culture. One of the most educated, prolific women of all time, she preached against heresy and corruption, wrote massive works on medicine and visionary theology, was a prolific and highly original composer, and commanded the respect of an entire continent. Although she called herself but a "simple creature," and "a poor little womanly creature," she was known to others in her age as the Sibyl of the Rhine and Old Wrinklegard.
HILDEGARD'S MUSIC
At the heart of Hildegard von Bingen's extraordinary creativity was her accomplishment in music. In the poetry and melody of her songs, she reveals the full authority, intelligence and striking originality of her genius. She wrote profusely as no woman before her. Even though she received no formal training in music, her talent and motivation drove her to write 77 chants and the first musical drama in history which she entitled "The Ritual of the Virtues." She writes in her autobiographical passages: "I composed and chanted plainsong in praise of God and the saints even though I had never studied either musical notation or singing." Unlike the mild, mainstream music of her day, her lyrical speech breaks into rhapsodic emotion; her zesty melodies soar up to two and one half octaves, leaping and swirling into flourishing roulades which leave the singer breathless. The poetic vision and thematic themes of her hymns encompass the vast expanse of all her writings.
Choir of Angels
THE WIDE COMPASS OF HER MUSIC
Hildegard's music can only be fully understood in the light of all her work. The beauty and depth of theme found in her theology, philosophy, cosmology and medicine, can all be found condensed in her music as in a jewel. For Hildegard as for the medieval, music was an all-embracing concept. It was the symphony of angels praising God, the balanced proportions of the revolving celestial spheres, the exquisite weaving of body and soul, the hidden design of nature's creations. It was the manifest process of life moving, expanding, growing towards the joy of its own deepest realizations and a profound unity of voices singing the praises of God here on earth. It was beauty, sound, fragrance and the flower of human artistry. Over 300 times in her writings, Hildegard uses music to illuminate spiritual truths.
Beautiful and angelic. Musicians are gifted from God. Oracles. There is power in music. It brings healing to our spirits.
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