Customer Reviews

Monk & Abbess

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For those of you looking for a beginner's CD of Hildegard von Bingen's music, TAKE NOTE. As a beginner myself, I can say that this has immediately become one of my favorite CDs.

The CD begins with 4 chants by Hildegard von Bingen, all of which are sung beautifully by Musica Sacra. The songs after that are a collection of works over the years by Meredith Monk, and these are some of the most evocative choral pieces I've heard.

I'll admit, I was a little put off at first when I saw that Monk was a modern composer. I had listened to "Vision," another CD with Hildegard's music. I was expecting chant; instead I got a modernized interpretation of her music. If you're looking for a starter CD of pure chant by Hildegard, "Vision" is NOT the one. Try "Luminous Spirit" instead.

Be that as it may, I was very pleasantly surprised when I listened to Monk's pieces. Unadorned voices blend to create a compelling soundscape. And Monk does some innovative things with the voices, delightfully bending the rules of traditional chant without compromising the purity of the tones. Try "Dawn" or "Astronaut Anthem" as examples.

All in all, "The Monk and the Abbess" is a must-have CD for everyone, whether you're a seasoned fan of chant or just dipping your toes into this genre. It's too bad we don't hear more about Meredith Monk. She's got some really interesting works.

This remarkable album starts with four compositions by the medieval German mystic Hildegard von Bingen: O Quam Mirabilis (Antiphon for the Creator), O Ecclesia (Sequence for St. Ursula), O Clarissima Mater (Responsory for the Virgin) and Tu Illustrata (Antiphon for the Virgin), while the second part contains a selection of Meredith Monk's compositions from her earlier albums like Chacon, Quarry, The Book of Days and The Games. Both Monk's own music and the interpretations of Hildegard's songs are deeply spiritual, radiating a ritualistic feel unbound by any particular type of belief system. The sound sculptures often seem to evoke an unknown ancient culture with its mixture of non-Western vocalising and pure-toned medieval chanting. The vocal style is non-vibrato, with austere intervals, similar to medieval poliphony. The structures unfold with exquisite subtlety and repetition is used to incantatory effect with a deeply spiritual resonance. Unlike the gothic weirdness of Dolmen Music, Monk and the Abbess is highly accessible and should appeal to those who appreciate vocal medieval and classical music.