Customer Reviews

Hildegard Von Bingen: O Jerusalem

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Another flawless Sequentia contibution to the complete works of Hildegard, this set uses the 10 minute title piece, written for the dedication of a church, to lay the cornerstone for a series of liturgical songs which might have been appropriate to such an occasion. As the church bells ring to set the stage for the recorded fantasia, the lovely choir begins and carries straight through a roller coaster of gems, occasionally colored by a spare but powerful addition of period instruments throughout, fiddle, harp, organ, flute. Characteristic Hildegard themes of the miraculous, holy virginity and its fruits amplify and adorn songs regarding the new church's patron Saint Rupert and his virtues, a duke's son and ascetic who died at 20. Sequentia's combination of vibrant performance and informed but creative reconstruction perfectly matches the spirit of the bold medieval composer and abbess Hildegard, as she in turn linked her own charisms to Rupert. The total effect is like a rare telescope look into a distant spiritual terrain, and quite absorbing.

Like all the other Hildegard/Sequentia discs, this one is a wonderful addition to any collection. Inspired performances, soaring melodies, intriguing texts. Elizabeth Gaver's instrumental compositions are an especially nice addition; they fit perfectly with Hildegard's style and provide just the right contrast to the vocal pieces. This is currently one of my "desert island" CD's.

This recording and the performances it captures are wonderful. Rather than comment on these aspects, I wish to address the absolutely inadequate Amazon CD-R reissue version of this recording. The disc itself is fine. However, as anyone who has followed Sequentia knows from their previous releases, an integral part of their performing and recording is their scholarship, which is fully documented and discussed in the liner notes of their recordings. Essays discuss composers, performance practice, and the musical and social milieu in which the music developed. They also include full bibliographic and discographic information, as well as translations of the sung texts. Tragically, the Amazon CD-R version includes none of this information. Indeed, there are no notes at all and only a bare list of work titles included! I would argue this issue borders on useless without the missing information. Sequentia's own web site lists the original 1997 CD booklet as 55 pages, surely the international version, but certainly more than what is present in this reissue. Caveat emptor.

The songs are ancient and beautiful (though there's not too much variation). The performances are better. The sense of depth, gravity, and just *worship* on this recording is unbelieveable. You will be transported to some distant, mysterious mountain chapel as you listen to these inexpressibly pure chants. Excellent music for focusing on anything, or for praying, or just calming down while driving in your car after anything stressful. It's also great sympathy music if you don't have a shoulder to cry on.

Sequentia has distinguished itself for their recordings of Hildegard Von Bingen's chants. I highly recommend "O Jeruslaem" to enthusiasts of Medieval Music and to those who want to create some ambiance for their reflective and meditative moments. Track 1, with the sound of peeling bells, is literally a "call to prayer". If you close your eyes, tracks 5 and 6 will make you transcend the mundane and feel like one with an ethereal life force. Beautiful recording, both technically and content-wise.

the music is so well done,and programmed so that the chant style does not grow old after listening to several tracks.

Another reviewer below mentions a warning about acquiring the Amazon CD-R version without the extensive liner notes that typify all Sequentia releases for St. Hildegard's works. I purchased mine through a vendor, and it was a record-on-demand quickie apparently put out by Sony BMG, and it too does not contain the scholarly booklet for which Sequentia always provide useful and informatiive background as well as line-by-line translations of the text. On mine the final track "O Quam Magnam Miraculum Est" is actually cut off in the middle, which is most disconcerting. It makes it all the more frustrating because I actually prefer this music to some of Sequentia's other works by Hildegard and would have loved to have more information about it. I believe the BMG Classics through Deutsche Harmonia Mundi are the ones that contain International versions with the booklets intact, at least that is the case for my other Hildegard/Sequentia works. I'll be wiser when purchasing my next Sequentia album.