Hildegard von Bingen: Saints

Hildegard von Bingen (Composer), Gregorian Chant (Composer), Elizabeth Gaver (Composer), Cologne Sequentia Ensemble for Medieval Music (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Cologne Sequentia Ensemble for Medieval Music
• Composer: Hildegard von Bingen, Gregorian Chant, Elizabeth Gaver
• Audio CD (August 11, 1998)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000009TJZ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #317,393 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars another essential Hildegard discs, February 19, 2002

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"dtrr" (Florida USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hildegard von Bingen: Saints (Audio CD)

My first introduction to Sequentia's versions of Hildegard was Canticles of Ecstacy, which still best defines musically, for me, the soaring visions and mysticism of Hildegard. Much of this sense is to be credited to the female voices of Sequentia, not only exceptional in quality but specifically not "sweet" or self-conscious or hovering toward modern, as in other ensembles (e.g., Gothic Voices or Anonymous 4). Beautiful as these latter voices are, one can take exception to the "angelic" label if one remembers that medievals saw angels as both terrifying and beatiful, and Sequentia evokes the awe and strength of angelic sounds like no one else (to my knowledge) recording Hildegard. Happily, the female voices in Saints are as soaring, challenging and beautiful as ever.

Though entirely correct historical scholarship, Saints has more male voices than female (separate, of course); the men's ensemble, called Sons of Thunder, is as strong and persuasive as any male performers of medieval vocal, and parallel the women's voices in removing any trace of self-consciousness. But while they are excellent, the male tones will be reminiscent of traditional Gregoran chant, of ecclesiastical music, not quite capturing the soaring mysticism of the female voices. Perhaps this is "built-in" to the two voices and their personalities. But I, for one, prefer the female voices, especially when Saints is meditative music for non-active listening.

Instrumental interludes, composed by a Sequentia member, are refreshingly authentic and quite welcome in the progress of the discs. They are carefully crafted to the sense of Hildegard's compositions and another reason why Sequentia's versions are unsurpassed.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful music to meditate by., July 22, 1999

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[e-mail] (Little Rock, Arkansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hildegard von Bingen: Saints (Audio CD)

Mystical and etheral, this music has become my favorite during quiet meditation or contemplation. It seems to speak directly to that part of us which strives to transend the static of physical existence, and longs to know the infinite.

0 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hildegard Von Bingen: Saints, December 27, 2007

By 

Luiz R. S. Candiota (Sao Paulo, Brazil) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hildegard von Bingen: Saints (Audio CD)

Unfortunatelly I did not receive the book yet. The number in my house address at Amazon was reported wrongly. Now it is corrected.