Hildegard Von Bingen Essay
Hildegard Von Bingen was a German abbess in the Middle Ages who spent most of her life in the church as she had been promised to the church at a very early age. Along with being a very spiritual woman, Hildegard also experienced visions that were of God and his ways. These visions were the basis for most of her works that she created. Though the general population was wholly uneducated, Hildegard was exceptionally well educated because of her background in the church and her devotion to studying the word of God. Hildegard wrote many works including chants, hymns, and prayers. Some of her works were created for performance in the church, but some were for private devotional time, such as her prayers or more heartfelt chants. Ordo Virtutum, a liturgical drama, was arguably Hildegard’s most famous work. Ordo Virtutum begins with the Patriarchs and Prophets, a relatively small set of characters who only appearance in the drama. The dialogue then moves to that of
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Davidson starts out her article explaining that to fully appreciate Hildegard’s music, especially one as prominent as Ordo Virtutum, one must dive into her style of music and the time period in which it was written. One thing that makes many of our modern transpositions in our world today so inauthentic is that they try too hard to modernize a piece that was made for the performer to interpret. Davidson explains that the starting note that was written was often not the note that was sung, but was merely a guideline for the performer to follow in whatever key or range felt most comfortable to them. This is just one reason why Hildegard’s music was so unique to her and to the period. Today, compositions leave much less room for interpretations, but most performers are expected to still put their own style and flair into the music which is done through vibrato, and flourishes whenever
Davidson starts out her article explaining that to fully appreciate Hildegard’s music, especially one as prominent as Ordo Virtutum, one must dive into her style of music and the time period in which it was written. One thing that makes many of our modern transpositions in our world today so inauthentic is that they try too hard to modernize a piece that was made for the performer to interpret. Davidson explains that the starting note that was written was often not the note that was sung, but was merely a guideline for the performer to follow in whatever key or range felt most comfortable to them. This is just one reason why Hildegard’s music was so unique to her and to the period. Today, compositions leave much less room for interpretations, but most performers are expected to still put their own style and flair into the music which is done through vibrato, and flourishes whenever