Customer Reviews

The Origin of Fire: Music and Visions of Hildegard von Bingen

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

At first, to be quite honest, this record did little for me: singing did not sound as enticing as in 11,000 Virgins, and there's very little music of Hildegard in it. Only 6 out of the 17 tracks have been set to music by her; opening and close hymns are not hers (neither text nor music), and Hildegard's visions (which make up most of the program) were set to music by A4, who borrowed recitation tones from different sources.
However, with A4, music is not the only factor to be taken into account. ORIGIN OF FIRE is primarily not a presentation of Hildegard's music, but of a specific aspect of her visions--this is why near half of the program is chanting: chanting is not all-the-way musical; it is first and foremost a form of recitation, i.e. of bringing a text to one's attention. The listener who really wants to enjoy this record needs to focus on liner notes and text as well. By the way, this record's liner notes are, as is always the case with A4, clear and comprehensive.

I gave this CD an above average rating. I did so because this is the 3rd CD that I have purchased from Anonymous 4 and to be quite honest they all sound the same to me. I personally feel that the style of Hildegard is heavy, crisp, intentional and complicated. It is unique compared to other styles of anicent choral music. Anonymous 4 has a very light, airy almost contemporary feel to whatever they sing. In the CD insert Anonymous 4 goes on to express how they prepared to sing the medeival music in latin with a German accent because that is where Hildegard was from, and that this is how she would have sung her music. But honestly I don't think one can tell. Like I said, this is my third CD from them and they all sound the same. Don't get me wrong ladies. You 4 have gorgeous voices but I have found that the albums by Sequentia that sing in Hildegard's von Bingen tradition to be more authentic. I recommend to those interested to try Chanticles of Extasy by Sequentia or any of Sequentia's albums. You'll understand what I mean after you compare them for yourselves.

Let's start out with some limitations:
1. If you're looking for an excellent translation and commentary on these works of St. Hildegard, you ought not buy this album (the booklet is generally unhelpful, and the translations are absurd).
2. If you are looking for a huge collection of St. Hildegard's music, you ought to think about buying the 11,000 Virgins album before this one.

BUT,
Anonymous 4 is definitely my favorite interpreter of the Hildegard texts. They take very little liberty with the musical notation for Hildegard's music, almost interpreting it with Solesmes-like conservativism. This lets the melody speak for itself. Moreover, they don't fool around with musical instruments that would have been forbidden from the monasteries of her time.
In this CD, Anonymous does some original and amazing work, interpreting not only the music of St. Hildegard, but also trying to bring the texts from her visionary works to life. If you can read and hear Latin, this is going to be a real treat--just don't bother with the translations in the book! They do original settings of Invitatory reciting tones and lection tones (the ones used in the Divine Office) to sing the texts, such as they might be sung if they were included in the Office of Matins. This gives the CD a quasi-liturgical style which, of course, matches with the lifestyle that St. Hildegard would have lived.

St Hildegard, pray for me!

If you want to be inspired (what a great word - receive the breath of life), then listen to this wonderful version of the music of Hildegard of Bingen, Germany's most amazing medieval woman. Her spiritual and musical gifts are unified on this c.d. It takes me right back to Eibingen, Germany, where her bones are laid to rest in the lovely village church, across the vineyards from the Abbey named in her honor.

Hildegard von Bingen is, in this listeners estimation, a very important composer in the Western canon. Some will say that this is simply because she put her name to work when so many contemporaries simply signed their work "anonymous." Others will say it simply because she is one of the few women composers of merit that we have discovered, and therefore we exaggerate her importance out of some misplaced political correctness. I reject both these charges sometimes levied against her. I think her work is lasting for more reasons than this. Most scholars admit her importance, include her work in the canon, and she is taught in most University history of music classes.

First, it is important to remember that Hildegard was (and is) thoroughly Catholic. Her legacy sometimes gets usurped by those with other agendas. Hildegard was sent to the convent to get her education and to become a nun, given by her parents as a tithe.

As a young child she was sickly and had religious visions and episodes. The old Catholic encyclopedia refers to her as a "seeress and prophetess" and both descriptions seem apt. It is perhaps because of her visions that her parents gave her as a tithe.

Hildegard it would seem took to the cloister like a fish to water. She was blessed with a great intellect. She was also long lived. In her time she wrote books on herbalism, painted sacred art, composed beautiful music, and wrote down her mystic visions. Some scholars have made the argument she was a polymath. She corresponded with Popes and even acted as a diplomat. She was a learned and holy woman who had power and influence in the Church, a matriarch who was venerated as a saint even shortly after her death. Her first biography was undertaken by contemporary monks, and that should communicate her importance at her time.

Some secularist scholars have posited the idea that she suffered from migraine headaches; that these account for her symptoms before having visions, and the visions themselves. Wether or not this is the case, the visions did occur, and this recording is entitled "Music and Visions" as a result. I see no reason to doubt their divine origin, and will take Hildegard's word at face value. The miraculous does occur, and the music on this disc I think is evidence.

Hildegard is one of my favorite characters from music history. Chronologically she seems to pop up right after Guido of Arezzo (the inventor of sol-fege and the staff who lived around 1000 AD). Hildegard lived around 1150 and used Guido's system of notation to great avail. Her works are lyrical, beautiful, sacred, and compelling.

I have been a fan of Anonymous 4 since undergraduate school when I had the good fortune to hear them live in a big stone Church. When one considers that it is most likely Hildegard's work was sung by her nuns in the cloister, this recording takes on an authenticity which is very appropriate. As I have a digital copy, I do not have the liner notes, but the recording certainly sounds like it was made in a sacred space (or a big stone room appropriately shaped). I do not think they can get that sort of sound by artificial means. It is a clean recording. The singing is perfect and, as always, perfectly in tune. One feels transported to an incense filled chapel in the 11th century, where priests gave a liturgy in Latin facing east with holy relics under the altar stone, and incense filling the sacred space. Perhaps there was a rood screen carved by a master craftsman separating the sanctuary from those in the chapel, who could hear but barely see the nuns behind the grate singing gorgeous chants very much like this. The smoke from the candles and smell of the incense which is cut by rays of light shining through the stained glass. I can almost HEAR all of this in this recording. It makes me yearn for Church when Church was Church, before the rise of the banal, the folk guitars, and the modernism.

Of course, most of the music on this disc would not have been included in the liturgy. Some of it is Hildegard's visions set to music by Anonymous 4 themselves, and thus is as new as this recording itself. Still, the evocative nature of the recordings, and the authenticity there, remain. To be able to make a beautiful, creative, and new recording of music that is close to 1000 years old is a feat indeed. And the theme of pentecost tying the whole record together is brilliant. One can feel the devotion to the Holy Spirit. I do not know if these performers are believers at all but, for this believer, the work is highly evocative.

Truly a gorgeous record. Highly recommended.

This is such a sublime collection of Hildegard's music. Extraordinarily well done by Anonymous 4!!!! Ethereal quality. So traditional in its chants......fantastic.

I own 13 A-4 discs and this is my second favorite, after On Yoolis Night. The recording sounds a little muddy and they do, uncharacteristically take some liberties with the material, but .... This was recorded in a real chapel (as were most of their later releases) and the extensive liner notes are, as usual, present. The presentation and delivery are among the best that A-4 have ever done. These 4 ladies each have wonderful voices that blend together magnificently. If you are an A-4 fan, you need to own this.

If you enjoy the music of Anonymous 4, you'll be thouroughly impressed with this presentation of Hildegard's music to God. Excellent is not enough praise for this interpretation.

This musical is relaxing uplifting, simple yet complicated. A total mental experience filled with beauty.

The music of Hildegard Von Bingen is, without question, some of the most important we have from the Middle Ages. This album has a very capable set of performances by Anonymous 4, but the drawback is the very sameness of sound to each and every track. Yes, they sing well, but where is the variety of timbre? Where are the percussion instruments that have been used in other recordings and performances of these works? They could have used some help from some men's voices, too. Otherwise, it's perfectly recorded, but with repeat listenings becomes more trying.