Hildegard von Bingen was a 12th century abbess in Germany. Her parents gave her to the church as a tithe, being the 10th child in their family. She accomplished many many significant things in her life, but in this post I want to talk about her music.
Hildegard wrote in the plainchant tradition of a single vocal melodic line, the predominant method of liturgical singing in the 12th century. That means it’s really good chant. 😉
Lately I’ve been listening to Illumination by Richard Souther. It’s a modern adaptation and interpretation of her works, and adds quite a bit of instrumentation. It’s hard to exlpain, it’s a bit like Enigma, mostly new-age sounding, but most with a pretty good beat.
It’s really excellent stuff, let me know if you need samples.
