COMPOSERS: Hildegard Of Bingen
LABELS: Harmonia Mundi
ALBUM TITLE: Hildegard of Bingen
WORKS: The Origin of Fire: hymns & sequences
PERFORMER: Anonymous 4
CATALOGUE NO: HMU 907327
It is seven years since the female
vocalists of Anonymous 4 last
explored the music of Hildegard
of Bingen (1098-1179). On that
occasion they reconstructed a service
of her music in honour of St Ursula
(reviewed November 1997), but now
they have gone for a freer meditation
on spiritual fire, drawing upon
readings from Hildegard’s letters and
treatises, together with Pentecost
chants and other plainsongs.
All the usual hallmarks of
Anonymous 4’s musical approach
are here to delight their fans – the
soothing ooziness of the phrasing (in
‘O eterne’), the discreet addition of
drones (‘O felix anima’), the tiniest
unruffled moments of ornamentation
(‘O quam mirabilis’) and the
spacious, ‘churchy’ acoustic. There is
also something new: a presentation
of extracts from Hildegard’s visionary
prose writings (on Creation,
Wisdom, Spirit and Love) which
are intoned to simple chants usually
reserved for the greetings at services
and bible readings. These retain the
overall atmosphere, but destroy any
sense of ecstasy or awe in these words.
Much of the music on this disc is
also available in more meaningful
performances by Sequentia
(Deutsche Harmonia Mundi). Try those if you want a truer access to the
past – not just ‘atmosphere’ – from
your medieval music. Anthony Pryer