Search - Von Bingen, Estampie :: Materia Mystica: Homage to Hildegard von Bingnen

Close, but curious

S. Gustafson | New Albany, IN USA | 04/03/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This record is again not at all for classical purists, who will much prefer -Sequentia's- approach to St. Hildegard's music.

Elaborate instrumental parts have been added to the chants. They seldom overwhelm them, though; St. Hildegard's music is melismatic and florid enough to be unmistakable. What they do, though, is distract from the deeper structures, the returning melodies with different words, that one finds in Hildegard's compositions. Still, it's not nearly as bad as some of the techno versions that have been made out of her chants. They seem to use Hildegard's music as a base, under which they improvise a ground.

There are also some original compositions here, with recitations in German. The most successful of these is -Werd als ein Kind-, apparently to a text by the mystic Meister Eckhardt.

The conceit of the record hinges around the four classical elements of earth, air, fire, and water. This is the least successful aspect of the recording. St. Hildegard's poems seem to have been woven into this without any attention to what the Latin texts of her music were saying, and her actual meaning seems irrelevant to the conceit. How did -O ignis spiritus- [O spirit of Fire] get attached to Earth? It's no wonder they omitted providing a lyric sheet with the Latin words.

Still, it's a pretty pleasant record to listen to, but it is definitely a homage to St. Hildegard of Bingen, not a canonical performance of her work."