Symphonies Of The Harmony

Description

Product Description This is the second volume of The Complete Hildegard von Bingen. Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) was born the tenth child to a noble family and was dedicated at birth to the church. At age three she began to have visions of luminous objects, but soon realized she was unique in this ability and kept these visions secret for many years. Hildegard's religious education, which began at the age of eight, consisted of an ascetic life of prayer and contemplation. At a time when few women were accorded respect, she lived to become a highly respected writer, poet, composer and visionary sought after for her counsel by bishops, popes and kings.Images of aurora or dawn appear in many of Hildegard's songs as metaphors for the Virgin Mary and is implicit as the inner and outer energy in all virgins. This recording freely gathers those songs inspired by the young saint Ursula, the Virgin Mary, and the expressive spirituality of Hildegard's nuns. The songs are a celebration of virginity, but also would have been part of the general medieval belief that music had its own spiritual power, and that given the right conditions, could be heavenly. It was the music of virgins that Hildegard heard as celestial harmony.Virgins and widows represent the two groups of women in Hildegard's community. Perhaps these unique and difficult songs were composed specially for her nuns as a more personal expression of their devotional life rather than for use in church. This, the second volume ends with O pater omnium, which is more somber than the exultant love lyrics of the virgins as brides of Christ. Here the language of love is more devout, its melody more poignant and the songs create a spiritual atmosphere that lingers beyond the distance of centuries. About the Artist Sinfonye, founded in 1987 by Stevie Wishart, and joined by Vivien Ellis and Jocelyn West, was conceived as an ensemble combining improvisatory skills derived from traditional music with performance practices recreated from historical research, with a particular interest in repertories sung, inspired or composed by women. Since its conception, Sinfonye has performed throughout Europe and Australia. In addition to their group work, the members also maintain active solo careers.Stevie Wishart developed her musical studies at the University of York where she specialised in composition, electronic music, ethnomusicology, and medieval music (B.A. Hons). She continued at postgraduate level at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Diploma in Advanced Performance). With a Vicente Canada Blanch Fellowship at the University of Oxford she researched representations of medieval music in the visual arts taking Spain and the Mozarabic world as the main focus. (M.Litt unfinished D.Phil, under the direction of Christopher Page).It is from this initial study of iconography that an involvement in multimedia contexts for her music performance developed. Formative hands-on time was also spent following contact with John Cage and David Tudor while playing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and with traditional fiddle players in Istanbul and Rajasthan, as well as studying the hurdy-gurdy with Valentin Clastrier in central France.As a composer and performer on violin, hurdy-gurdy, voice and electronics, Wishart's music explores medieval and contemporary extremes. Moving between Australia and Europe, her work also draws on these contrasting landscapes and histories (bush/urban).Historical research and development of her ensemble Sinfonye's repertories (c1000 to 1400) have led to a discovery of female poet-composers and music written for female voices and been the inspiration for eight CDs of medieval love lyrics and related instrumental music, and her ongoing series of the Complete Songs of Hildegard of Bingen with a multimedia program of Hildegard's music and visions currently being revised following Sinfonye's performances in the Adelaide festival and London's Queen Elizabeth Hall.With a keen involvement in improvised and electronic music, Stevie Wishart has formed a compositional style which frequently combines various forms of musical notation and recorded sound. Collaborations and commissions include projects for dance, theatre, film, and radio, as well as her relationship with Celestial Harmonies in the United States.Vivien Ellis, singer and voice workshop leader, joined Sinfonye in 1989. Her research into the roots of singing in Europe have taken her to Bulgaria, France, Spain, and Corsica. Vickie Couper, Camilla Scarlett, Sara Stowe, Louise Eeckelaar, Emily Levy, Katharine Taylor and Lucy Steele, members of the Oxford Girls' Choir, join Sinfonye for this celestial celebration.