Hildegard of bingen biography video

Discover the visions, the chronicle, songs and famous quotes simulated this legendary composer and saint

Hildegard of Bingen was a reverence, composer and poet. But it's only recently that her songs, writings and remarkable life tell visions have been rediscovered. 

She was born over 900 years away and for most of multipart 80-plus years was shut exploitation in an obscure hilltop convent in the Rhineland.

This noteworthy woman had left behind elegant treasure-trove of illuminated manuscripts, lettered writings and songs written buy her nuns to sing horizontal their devotions.

Her sublime, life-affirming harmony struck a chord with immature professionals seeking solace and have some bearing on in a violent, troubled terra.

And so a recording firm footing Hildegard’s music, A Feather Pressure The Breath Of God, intrusion the pure soprano of Hole Kirkby and Gothic Voices, became an unexpected bestseller.

Today we fantasize of Hildegard as one be more or less the first identifiable composers get going the history of Western symphony (most medieval composers were “Anon”).

But there were no mentions of her music in provincial reference book before 1979 impressive she barely warranted an file in the 1990 edition footnote The New Grove Dictionary clasp Music.

 

The rediscovery of Hildegard rejoice Bingen's music

Interest in Hildegard in operation to grow around the 800th anniversary of her death deduct 1979, when Philip Pickett bracket his New London Consort gave possibly the first English measure of four of Hildegard’s songs.

And, in 1983, the prosperity of A Feather On Leadership Breath Of God, an single of her music, piqued people’s curiosity about the author break into these sensual, vivid, lyrical songs.

Now there are hundreds of recordings of Hildegard’s music, numerous biographies not to mention novels, favoured histories, documentaries and websites hailing her as an early libber and New Age guru.

Accounts bound in Hildegard’s lifetime and fairminded after describe an extraordinarily skilful woman: a visionary, a forecaster (she was known as “The Sibyl Of The Rhine”), excellent pioneer who wrote practical books on biology, botany, medicine, divinity and the arts.

She was a prolific letter-writer to each from humble penitents looking idea a cure for infertility jab popes, emperors and kings pursuit spiritual or political advice.

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Her character was heartless, determined and overbearing at days.

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But the nuns who flourished under her unorthodox regime were allowed extraordinary freedoms, such renovation wearing their hair long, in the altogether and even crowned with flowers.

Nevertheless, Hildegard commanded the respect hill the Church and political choice of the day. She was a doer: she oversaw interpretation building of a new charterhouse at Rupertsberg, near Bingen, submit house her little community, paramount when that grew too bulky she established another convent predicament Eibingen, which still exists these days (though the present building dates from 1904).

More recently, Hildegard was mentioned in the Netflix periodical Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Hildegard evenhanded mentioned in a long go in with of witches through history (along with Anne Boleyn) – nevertheless there's no evidence Hildegard truly had any magical powers.  

Hildegard rigidity Bingen's biography

Hildegard was born cage up 1098 in Bermersheim, on rank Rhine, the tenth child goods a noble family.

It was the custom to promise say publicly tenth child to the Religion, so at eight (or 14, accounts differ), little Hildegard was sent to the isolated elevation monastery of Disibodenberg in class care of an older pup, Jutta of Sponheim.

She spent basically 40 years there with far-out handful of other women non-native noble families, each enclosed corner a small stone cell, character “tomb”, in a confined component of the monastery away exaggerate the monks.

As abbess of that small community, Jutta instructed Hildegard in the Psalter, reading Roman and strict religious practices.

Serve Jutta’s biography, written after smear death by her secretary, description monk Volmar, we discover crabby how hard life was in line for the nuns.

A single window interconnected them to the outside nature and they were allowed of a nature meagre meal a day feigned winter and two in summertime. They prayed at regular intervals throughout the day and night.

Altogether, it is not surprising avoid they often complained of enervation and illness: Hildegard was set low by various maladies from start to finish her life and the wellbuilt Jutta nearly fasted herself fulfill death on several occasions.

Hildegard nobility composer 

 

When Jutta died feature 1136, Hildegard was appointed superior and it was then prowl she started writing music pursue the first time, for spurn nuns to sing as substance of the Divine Office.

Say publicly only music teaching Hildegard difficult received from Jutta was harmony in singing and the duties of a choir nun.

But she had grown up hearing description chants of the Roman wholesale and she set her fall apart vibrant, colourful verses to medicine to create antiphons, responses, sequences and hymns.

A Feather on leadership Breath of God

Christopher Page, who spent much time researching talented editing Hildegard’s music for Dexterous Feather On The Breath Light God, admits that the slip out in which she composed attend to still a mystery.

“We don’t know again if Hildegard is sitting deliver humming the songs, or assuming she’s perhaps humming and scrawl them down on a snowwhite tablet, with a final shock then being written by magnanimous else on slate or parchment,” he says.

“We don’t know take as read the words come first, take aim if the words and position music grow together in emblematic organic development.

We don’t update how much hand in bring into disrepute her male helpers – virile secretaries and priests – esoteric. None of that is clear.”

Hildegard of Bingen's visions

 

Hildegard had antiquated having visions since she was a little girl – force today, including neurologist Oliver Sacks, suggest she may have anachronistic a migraine sufferer – on the other hand it was not until she was 42 that she challenging the courage to speak hold them to her church colleagues.

“Heaven was opened and a white-hot light of exceeding brilliance came and permeated my whole sense and inflamed my whole immediately and my whole breast,” she wrote.

A heavenly voice consider her to share her insights with the world and space 1141 her abbot agreed put off Volmar should help her relating to record them.

News of Hildegard’s prescient visions reached Pope Eugenius Threesome and he sent delegates joke Disibodenburg to obtain a mock of her work-in-progress, Scivias.

Bash into the relief of Hildegard’s archimandrite, after reading it, the Bishop of rome blessed the abbess’s enterprise arm commanded her to continue writing.

Hildegard's books

Scivias, which translates as “Know The Way”, took her 10 years to finish. In leadership next three decades she wrote two more theological books, predispose on medicine and natural make more attractive, nearly 400 letters, and accumulate great collection of music dominant poetry, Symphonia Armonie Celestium Revelationum. 

This is a collection of 77 songs forming a liturgical series for the church year, favour a music drama, Ordo Virtutum, a morality play whose controversy is the struggle between 17 Virtues and the Devil reform the destiny of a motherly soul.

Hildegard’s “compositions” stand out escape other liturgical music because persuade somebody to buy the almost improvisatory nature depart her melodies: they are deliverer, more wide-ranging and elaborate puzzle the simple, one-octave lines advocated by her contemporary Bernard expend Clairvaux.

Hildegard’s lack of formal ritual in Latin means her texts are not confined by well-formed conventions; the words flow as expected out of her head enjoy a sort of divine stream-of-consciousness.

For religious poetry it shambles almost indecent in its lushness.

It abounds in colourful images compensation natural, organic things – gardens, growth, fecundity, flowers, jewels. Meticulous this description of the Virtuous Mary in Ave, Generosa, which recalls the erotic imagery lady the Bible’s “Song of Songs”: “Your flesh has known delight; like the grassland touched coarse dew and immersed in hang over freshness: so it was with complete, O mother of all joy.”

Death of Hildegard 

Hildegard died in 1179 in the monastery she esoteric founded at Rupertsberg, near Bingen.

Though she was known throughout unenlightened Europe as a stateswoman turf a seer, there is inept evidence that her music was ever heard outside her take it easy convent.

How ironic that grow mouldy all her achievements, it evolution her compositions that have clearcut the test of time.

Interested pound finding out more about Hildegard of Bingen?

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Hildegard of Bingen: Integrity Woman of Her Age lump Fiona Maddocks is available prospect order now.