St. Hildegard of Bingen

“One of the most remarkable contributors to the repertoire of Gregorian chant…”

Early Life

Hildegard of Bingen was born in 1098 and she was the tenth child, born into a noble family. Hildegard was dedicated to religious life and vowed to the church on all Saint’s days in 1112. Early in life she went under the care of one of her cousins, named Jutta von Sponheim. She was only 6 years Hildegard's senior but in Jutta’s care, her relationship with god grew significantly. When living with Jutta they resided in an Abbey (a name for a monastery). While living there she learned many things including reading, writing, Latin, and religious verse.

Early in life, Hildegard started to see visions. When talking about her vision she stated:

“The visions I saw I did not perceive in dreams, or sleep, or delirium, or by the eyes of the body, or by the ears of the outer self, or in hidden places; but I received them while awake and seeing with a pure mind and the eyes and the ears of the inner self, in open places, as God willed it. How this might be is hard for mortal flesh to understand” (Sharrat, 2015)

When she first started seeing her visions she confided in Jutta who then told them to Volmar who was the Prior (subordinate) to the abbey. He saw them as valid visions of god and went on to play a pivotal role in her life, yet unfortunately, Jutta would die in 1136.

Music

Hildegard of Bingen's music is super important when talking about the evolution of music in history. Hildegard of Bingen composed a total of 77 gregorian chants. The majority of her music uses a technique called “Melismatic singing”. It was common at the time to have “Sillabic singing” which means there are only one or two notes per syllable, but Hildegard of Bingen would compose music that had many notes per syllable and thus creating a new perspective on how future composers could approach lyrical music.

This impact can still be seen in modern music, which proves the enormous legacy she had in music. Hildegard of Bingen's music beautifully uses a monophonic melodic line that all singers sing together in unison. Her music resonates wonderfully with the reverberation of a church and has made her one of the most important figures of the renaissance.

Impact

Hildegard of Bingen has had a huge impact on music for centuries and centuries to come. Her music has left such an impact that modern musicians have rediscovered it and have added modern sounds to make it sound middle-aged and modern, “Several modern musicians have rediscovered Hildegard’s music in a contemporary setting. They have added experimental sounds with modern arrangements to create a colorful synthesis of the middle-ages with modern times.” Musicians have also sought to keep her original intent and character, “Musicians such as Linn Maxwell have sought to preserve Hildegard’s original intent and character. The same goes for groups like Vocatrix and performances such as «O tu illustrativ» performed by the  Ensemble Vocame Munich/ Germany.” Hildegard and her contribution and impact on the development of music haven’t gone unnoticed because she has finally been declared as a saint as of May 2012 after many centuries of debate. 

Canticles of Ecstasy

Canticles of Ecstacy is an entirely monophonic album composed by Hildegard of Bingen and recorded by Sequentia in the 1990s. The piece is comprised of voice, medieval harp, and variations of the medieval fiddle. The complete 1 hour and 13 minutes composition features her created language of Lingua Ignota. The script was composed of 23 symbols and over thousands of words. The performing group Sequentia is an all-female group much like all of her compositions are meant to be sung, by the people in her church. The texture of the piece is smooth and does not wander from a set system of notes, though the piece glides from the upper part of the range to the lower chant-like part of the voice. The instruments accompanying the voice stay steady and do not overpower the singers but rather add that layer of spiritualism to the album of music.

Sources:

https://feminismandreligion.com/2015/07/08/were-hildegards-visions-caused-by-migraines/#:~:text=In%20Scivias%2C%20Hildegard%20wrote%3A%20The%20visions%20I%20saw,self%2C%20in%20open%20places%2C%20as%20God%20willed%20it.

Hildegard Of Bingen Biography | Hildegard Early Life, Vision & More (healthyhildegard.com)

The Essential Listening to music, Craig Wright, 2nd Edition, 2016, page 50.

https://www.hildegardofbingen.net

https://www.healthyhildegard.com/hildegard-of-bingen-music/

https://www.discerninghearts.com/catholic-podcasts/novena-st-hildegard-bingen-mp3-audio-text/

https://earlymusicmuse.com/vielle-introduction/

https://caslabs.case.edu/medren/medieval-instruments/harp-medieval/

This post was made by:

-Jesse Garcia

-Grace Karns

-Destiny Cyr

-Piero Ramirez