December 18, 2010   Hildegard von Bingenen , History Trivia , Music , Spirituality

Hildegard von Bingen - A Thousand Years

Hildegard von Bingen's work has been around for nearly 1000 years and in recent years more attention has been directed to making reco...

Hildegard von Bingen's work has been around for nearly 1000 years and in recent years more attention has been directed to making recordings of her music.  Her music was inspired by legendary visions which included text and music which she shared in her religious community of women.  The works have a sense of mystery which is consistent with her idea that music is a bridge to heaven.  The melodies are simple, elegant and beautiful and often accompanied by instrumental drone as demonstrated at a service at our Center by Christopher Fritzsche and at our 2009 Christmas Candle Lighting Ceremony when a chorus of women sang Virtus Sapientiae.

(By the way, For recordings of Christopher with Clerestory Ensemble click here.)

Also known as Saint Hildegard, and Sibyl of the Rhine, she was a writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, German Benedictine abbess, visionary, and wrote botanical and medicinal texts, as well as the first surviving morality play.

Here is a link to the preview of Margarethe von Trotta's movie, "Vision from the LIfe of Hildegard Von Bingam" about Hildegard's life.