Customer Reviews

A Feather on the Breath of God

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Hildegard of Bingen is one of the few composers of plainchant whose name has survived across the centuries. However, there is more to her extraordinary words and monodic music than is found in 'standard' Gregorian chant, and this is perfectly exemplified by the Gothic Voices on this very successful disc. The clarity and persuasiveness of each track is a delight. Emma Kirkby was still a relative newcomer on the early music scene when this was recorded; beyond doubt, it helped to seal her reputation.

Since it's release, many other performers and record companies have attempted to match the success of the Hildegard phenonmenon started off by "A Feather on the Breath of God." Some of the results are quite good. Still, there is no better introduction to Hildegard than on this recording, and it is not likely that a better version will ever be produced.

If I have one complaint about this disc, it's that there's only 44 minutes of music on it- then again, it was first released as an LP so it was naturally short.

This disc truly is the finest recording of Hildegard's music ever made. Put it on and you will lose yourself in a beautiful sound world from which it is hard to want to return.

I'll make this review more brief than is my usual habit -- classical music is not an area of which I possess a lot of knowledge or experience -- but I have to say that this is one of the most beautiful, expressive recordings I own. The writings of Hildegard of Bingen have gained more widespread notoriety in the last ten years or so, being popularized by several modern interpretations -- some of which, notably the recording on Angel and the recent release by the Swedish group Garmarna are both interesting and revelatory -- but this, as another reviewer noted, is the recording to have.

The performances here are pure and unadorned -- much, we must believe, as they would have been in Hildegard's day, hundreds of years ago. Through the music and other writings of this amazing woman, we can see how a human soul is an earthly lens through which the love of God can be focused, and how that love can animate a human life.

I find myself listening to this recording at various levels and in assorted situations. It can be low-level, in the background, while I'm reading or sleeping -- or it can be more at the conscious level, worthy of my full attention. Either way, or in between, it's gorgeous -- the performances and the recording are of the highest level of talent and clarity. Listen and be moved.

One of the first early music recordings to win a Gramophone prize (that was in 1983), this recording has lost none of its luster since. The singers, occasionally accompanied by reed drones, but mostly singing a capella, rise to the highest levels of tonal beauty and technical skill. Star sopranos Emma Kirkby (appearing as a guest) and Emily van Evera (Mrs. Parrott) head the cast which is also featuring Andrew Parrott as a tenor, although now he is mostly known as a period performance conductor and a scholar (his book on OVPP performance practices is coming out in February). My pick of the entire Gothic Voices series, however, is the alto Margaret Philpot whose mastery of the alto register is so remarkable for her gender. She sings two solo pieces on this disc: Ave generosa and O presul vere civitas. Her presentation is flawless! Gothic Voices sing the plainchant melodies on this disc in a meditative, unadorned style, the way - as the notes inform - the devout abbess may have wanted them sung. I fully agree with this stylistic choice. gkolomietz@yahoo.com

This album is so beautiful it hurts. Hildegard surely must rank as the foremost composer of the millenium - anyway, it does take some talent to stay popular for 900 years! It even runs cirles around the more well-known singing of the monks of Santo Domingo De Silos, and that album is also good. I have not yet heard Agnethe Christensen's interpretation of Hildegard, that one just might be better.
Funnily enough, I do not particularly like Gothic Voices, but there is something in this album that clicks for them and they surpass themselves.

This CD is an absolutely beautiful collection of works by the legendary St. Hildegarde. The Gothic Voices performers instill a sense of being there, as if you are in a magnificent church with the Abess herself and her choir reaching out to you across the centuries.

Granted the 800 year anniversary of Hildegarde's birthday has brought about a trendy interest in her musical works. But I have been fascinated with her historical accomplishments for over 10 years, and this CD reminded why... her inner magic for peace, serenity, and well being. Listen to this collection once and you'll see what I mean.

Hildegarde once wrote that she felt she was one of God's favorite tools, and that her music was her tacticum of ultimatum. This was meant to say that if God couldnt reach a person through the everyday practices of the church, then music was the last fail-proof resort. I think this recording captured that, and even if you dont listen to this for any sort of religious purpose, your spirit will be moved nonetheless and in whatever direction you so desire.

The debut of the Gothic Voices singers, this disc won numerous awards. Its program illustrates purity of tone and simple calm textures in the singing of 12th century Christian hymns written by Abbess Hildegard. The poetic pieces are for one, three, or four largely unaccompanied female voices, or a properly segregated trio of male tenors. They usually sing homophonically in sweet concordant harmony. Decorative flourishes are few, aside from melismas. The voice qualities and combinations in different songs avoid monotony. The sound is not thin but becomes nearly mesmerizing and spiritually (not aurally) ecstatic, especially if I followed into the remarkably personal, sensual, pious, and visionary praise texts (reprinted in three languages alongside the original Latin). Radiant as are the texts-in-song, the performances tie Hildegard to earth; the import of the words extends greatly beyond what, to our ears, are pleasantly tranquil sounds. The remastered 20th anniversary reissue (CDA20039) is still 45 minutes, but at a lower price for the always excellent sounding Hyperion label. I was very surprised to hear on the PBS "Apocalypse (Book of Revelations)" program that this same Hildegard had a hand in creating the antisemitic "Antichrist" and Crusader pogroms. Evidently a woman of renown not above the passions of her times.

I've been listening to this CD for about ten years, and it is amazing and inspiring. Abbess Hildegard's music is the definition of ethereal--a pulseless forge of beauty. Kirkby and the Gothic Voices are great interpreters of Hildegard's "Symphonia." My favorite track is "O Ierusalem" which has almost a 12th century hook (Kirkby sings it at a driving tempo, and her phrasing brings out the rhythmic loops and subtly changing landscape of this awesome piece).

A Feather on the Breath of God has always been my favorite Hildegard recording. So when I recently had abdominal surgery I took my small cd player and headphones and listened to her during the surgery. I bled very little, and was released from the hospital a day earlier than necessary. I know those soothing, healing tones that I meditate with, kept me at the best kind of healing level. This music is incredibly beautiful and peaceful. The world needs this kind of music. I highly recommend it.

'A feather on the breath of God' is a performance of eight 'Sequences and Hymns' by Abbess Hildegard of Bingen' which has been lauded by Gramophone Magazine as a 'Best of' in the year it was released.

I have heard two other performances of Hildegard of Bingen compositions and to my amateur ear, these are the best. With soloist Emma Kirkby plus the instrumental backup, they are certainly more interesting than the a capella treatment by the Anononymous 4.

Very highly recommended.

Abbess Hildegaard of Bingen's music is ethereal. And it has the capacity to make the listener conscious of what Hildegaard observed in her visions. I own several CDs of Hildegaard's music, and Gothic Voices in "A Feather on the Breath of God" stands heads and shoulders above the others. If the prospective buyer enjoys Medieval music, has never heard Hildegaard, and can buy only one CD, this one is it.