Hildegard von Bingen: Ordo Virtutum

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Sequentia brought this extraordinary allegorical proto-opera to public attention with a recording and tour in 1982, at the beginning of the Hildegard boom. This new release is the culmination of the label's series of Hildegard's complete works in honor of the 900th anniversary of her birth. The earlier recording included a lot of intrusive instrumental doodling, but 16 years of experience have given Sequentia the courage to let the vocal lines (however plain) speak for themselves--and what glorious lines they are. The Soul's weary lament as she returns from her sojourn with the Devil and Victory's soaring solo upon the Devil's final defeat are astonishing. Fine singing and playing make this disc as fine a tribute as Hildegard and her fans could want. --Matthew Westphal

Tracks:

O Euchari
Alleluia - O Virga Mediatrix
Ave Generosa
Laus Trinitati
Kyrie
O Presul Vere
O Ignis Spiritus
Procession From 'Ordo Virtutum'
O Pastor Animarum
O Viridissima Virga
O Virga Ac Diadema

Customer Reviews:

Amazing, but not what I was looking for.......2006-10-06

I bought this album to explore more tracks by Hildegard after listening to one of her songs on an anthology. This music crosses centuries, languages, and religions, I feel. I am not a Christian, and the reason I listen to Georgian Chant is to study, because it focuses my thoughts exponentially. It completely drowns out the noise of the world and helps to gather my ideas. This did not get 5 stars because it wasn't what I was looking for. I wanted to hear tracks with a mixed gender choir but this album only goes from single male/male choir to single female/female choir, on alternating tracks.

This is still an excellent study aid and should be recommended for use as much as pencils and pens.

Outstanding music and performances!.......2005-08-31

The music in this CD is simply outstanding! I was very surpised when I bought this CD and discovered that it surpasses many other more "colourful" recordings of Hildegard's music (regardless of the price.)

For those who are not interested in aesthetic, artistic or musical merit but who are simply looking for "relaxing" music for contemplation, meditation etc, I am very pleased to say that this is probably the most relaxing and peaceful music I've ever heard (and I've tried many.) Its healing effect on my mind and nervous system is almost instant and that in a very balanced and harmonious way.

Highly higly highly recommended.

Hildegard von Bingen: Heavenly Revelations ~ Hildegard of B.......2005-05-11

To the modern ear and mind Hildegard of Bingens sounds very different. There are no instruments and the vocals are sung in unison and not as seperate to vocals but united as one. This might sound simplistic and many would say that because she lacked formal training. This is based on feelings rather logic and one can sense that they are jelous of her natural ability to write music. The lyrics are amazing, the vocals are not as easy to sing as they sound and Hillegard of Bingen was and is still today an amazing composer and lyricist.

STERENCE SINGS FOR EUCHARIUS AND DISIBOD.......2004-01-26

It was a distressing surprise to find that my Oxford Companion to Music does not even contain an entry for Hildegard of Bingen. I had half-heard some broadcast discussion of her a few years back, but anything I know about her really comes from the liner notes with this disc, fortunately among the better specimens of their kind that I have encountered recently.

Hildegard was abbess of a distinctly upmarket Benedictine convent located near Bingen-am-Rhein in the early 12th century. She was clearly a formidable woman, being a seer and visionary consulted by Popes and potentates, a writer on scientific matters and a poet and composer as well. This disc contains 55 minutes or so of selections from her `Symphony of the Harmony of Divine Revelations', a collection of poems in her own highly individual and vigorous version of the Latin of the time, set to her own music. The music has a distant resemblance to the Gregorian chant, believed to have originated around the 8th century. It is all monody, though some of the numbers are accompanied by a sustained background note, originating exactly where and how I could not be sure. The music contains some flourishes that would have been out of place in the plainsong but which seem natural enough in the context of her spiritual-carnal imagery. This can be downright weird here and there. My recollection is still boggling at

Nunc sit laus Deo
In forma pulchre tonsure
Viriliter operante

`Now let there be praise to God in the form of a beautiful tonsure working in manly mode'.

There is an excerpt from her musical morality-drama the Ordo Virtutum, in which an assemblage of Virtues battle with the devil for control of a woman's soul, but most of the numbers are in praise of either the Trinity, the Blessed Virgin, or saints Eucharius and Disibod. I have not in my life so far encountered anyone named after these saints, but one of the admirable Oxford Camerata rejoices in the first name Sterence, so I suppose there may be some Eucharii and Disibods out there too. The words are given in full, with English translation, both absolute essentials as far as this music is concerned. The liner note is admirably honest in refusing to take a critical position regarding the real quality and worth of such unfamiliar stuff, and I propose to follow its example. I bought this disc for curiosity, for my own education and out of a general wish to support the production of out-of-the-way music. Rating it in the matters where I feel competent to rate it, I am happy to report that the singing is of the highest order of professionalism, exactly what one has come to expect from any Summerly production, and that the recording is admirable too.

delightfully pure.......2000-04-02

for someone interested in early music this is a good place to start- von bingen's visions speak to us across nine centuries.

liner notes are minimal, as is the case with most NAXOS titles, but lyrics in latin and english are provided, which is nice.

oxford camerata is amazing- many of the solo sections for female voice soar with great beauty. the choice of recording location (chapel of hertford college, oxford) adds a tiny bit of acoustic abience without being distracting.

Tracks:

Ordo Virtutum: Prologue: Qui sunt hi, qui ut nubes?
Ordo Virtutum: Processional Of Embodied Souls
Ordo Virtutum: Scene 1: O nos peregrine sumus
Ordo Virtutum: Anima processional
Ordo Virtutum: Scene 1 (cont'd): O dulcis divinitas
Ordo Virtutum: Anima processional
Ordo Virtutum: Scene 1 (cont'd): O gravis labor
Ordo Virtutum: Instrumental Dance
Ordo Virtutum: Scene 2: Ego Humilitas
Ordo Virtutum: Instrumental Dance

Tracks:

Interlude: Symphonia: O quam magnum miraculum
Interlude: Symphonia: O felix anima
Interlude: Symphonia: O quam mirabilis
Ordo Virtutum (Con't): Instrumental Lament
Ordo Virtutum (Con't): Scene 3: Heu! Heu! nos virtutes plangamus
Ordo Virtutum (Con't): Scene 4: Que es, aut unde venis?
Ordo Virtutum (Con't): Finale: In principio

Amazon.com essential recording

Sequentia brought this extraordinary allegorical proto-opera to public attention with a recording and tour in 1982, at the beginning of the Hildegard boom. This new release is the culmination of the label's series of Hildegard's complete works in honor of the 900th anniversary of her birth. The earlier recording included a lot of intrusive instrumental doodling, but 16 years of experience have given Sequentia the courage to let the vocal lines (however plain) speak for themselves--and what glorious lines they are. The Soul's weary lament as she returns from her sojourn with the Devil and Victory's soaring solo upon the Devil's final defeat are astonishing. Fine singing and playing make this disc as fine a tribute as Hildegard and her fans could want. --Matthew Westphal

Customer Reviews:

Not stupid at all.......2005-03-12

Scott Graham seems to have missed the point of the "hog calling". To put it in is not stupidity on the producer's side, it is just following the instructions of Hildegard. You can't expect the devil to have a pleasant voice, at least not according to medieval belief. This is not music you are supposed to fall asleep to. Sequentia does an excellent interpretation. Highly recommended!

A piece of pure genius.......2002-09-26

Hildegard's Ordo Virtutum is a piece of genius. When it was written in the 12th century it was centuries ahead of its time and perhaps in some respect still is. Sequentia's interpretation matches the geniality of this music. The devil's intrusions are an invention without parallel. In the medieval mind, music was heavenly, meaning that the devil could not sing and could not be presented as vocal role. Instead, the devil can only grunt and shout unable to hide his true nature when faced by the virtues. This piece is certainly nothing for background listeners of medieval music.

disgusting.......2002-09-10

Beautiful music as you might expect, interspersed sporadically with loud male voices that sound somewhat like hog calling.

It is hard to believe that a recording company (director?) could be so stupid

Challenging, evocative.......2002-01-23

I was first introduced to Sequentia's Hildegard with their Canticles of Ecstacy, which entirely fits the description of meditative music. Ordo, Hildegard's first opus, is an allegory, with different voices representing the virtures. Some are melancholic, wistful; others are meditative; still other voices triumphant. It is a rich blend of beautiful voices, but one caveat to the seeker of background meditative music. In the allegory, the voice of the devil (a rasping male voice quite suitable to the allegory) bursts out in several scenes to mock and frighten the virtues. The devil cannot sing, of course, so he shouts. This will disturb the casual listener expecting nothing but soothing sounds. It is historically appropriate but not necessarily everyone's cup of tea.

Ravishingly simple music.......1999-01-08

To be honest, I have not heard this CD; however, I saw Sequentia perform Ordo Virtutum on their last tour and was stunned. The music is absolutely beautiful. Because the music lacks a melody, the focus is on the beauty of the human (mostly soprano) voice, and Sequentia withstands this scrutiny. Although Ordo Virtutum has been touted as the first opera, and does contain some character roles, its main appeal is as pure music. Listening to this qualifies as a spiritual experience.

Hildegard von Bingen: Ordo Virtutum - Sequentia

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Hildegard von Bingen: Ordo Virtutum - Sequentia

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Hildegard von Bingen: Canticles of Ecstasy

ASIN: B000001TWJ
Release Date: 1994-04-11

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Hildegard von Bingen: Ordo Virtutum - Sequentia

Manufacturer: Musical Heritage Society
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B0007XCGVG

Product Description

Sequentia: ensemble for medieval music ~~~ Sequentia women's vocal ensemble: Vox Feminae: ~~~ Barbara Thornton (director, voice) ~~~ Rebecca Bain, Panela Dellal, Suzanne Ehly, Ellen Hargis, Maria Jonas, Lydia Heather Knutson, Nancy Mayer, Marianne Nielsen, Lena Susanne Norin, Janet Youngdahl (voices) ~~~ Sequentia instrumental ensemble: ~~~ Elizabeth Gaver (director, medieval fiddle) ~~~ Rachel Evans, Robert Mealy (medieval fiddles) ~~~ Norbert Rodenkirchen (medieval flute) ~~~ Benjamin Bagby (Organistrum) ~~~ Sequentia men's vocal ensemble: Sons of Thunder (Patriarchs and Prophets) ~~~ Franz-Josef Heumannskamper - Diabolus ~~~

Ordo Virtutum. Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)

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Ordo Virtutum. Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
Hildegard , and Ensemble for Music of the Middle Ages
Manufacturer: Bayer
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000DGN6
Release Date: 2000-08-05

Tracks:

See Here!
O Spledidissima Gemma
The Evil
O Nos Peregrine Sumus
In Predictis Quinque Virtutibus
O Dulcis Divinitas
The Way To The Living
O Gravis Labor
Sed Heu!
O Nescio Quid Faciam
De Profundissima Peritione
O Plangens Vox
The Forces Of Good
Heu, Heu
The Devil
Ego Cum Meis Sodalibus
Alas, The Soul Cries
O Vos Regales Virtutes
Thus Speaks The Soul
Ego Peccator
The Arch Foe
Ego Omnes Vias Meas
Sed Anima Resumptis Viribus
O Victoria
Gentle Are The Forces Of God
O Deus, Quis Es Tu
Et Voces Iste

Amazon.com

This disc presents a committed, evocative, admirable version of Hildegard's allegorical proto-opera--unfortunately, its best features will be inaccessible to most potential listeners. Director Stefan Morent has slightly condensed the piece and added spoken narration in German (wonderfully recited by the legendary early-music pioneer Andrea von Ramm) to make the piece more approachable for his audience; naturally, this commendable gesture is lost on non-German speakers. (Worse, the accompanying booklet has no English translation.) That said, the music is very nicely performed: the improvised instrumental interludes are well-judged and energetic and the singing is admirable--especially that of Monika Mauch as the Soul, who delivers her lines of plainchant with an impressive range of emotion. For those who understand German, this is highly recommended. --Matthew Westphal

900 Years - Hildegard von Bingen / Sequentia

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Ecstasy!
A Collection to Treasure

900 Years - Hildegard von Bingen / Sequentia
Hildegard von Bingen , and Sequentia
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Hymns | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Classical | Box Sets | Stores | Music

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ASIN: B00000B9MS
Release Date: 1998-09-15

Tracks:

Canticles Of Ecstasy: O vis aeternitatis
Canticles Of Ecstasy: Nunc aperuit nobis
Canticles Of Ecstasy: Quia ergo femina mortem instruxit
Canticles Of Ecstasy: Cum processit factura digiti Dei
Canticles Of Ecstasy: Alma Redemptoris Mater
Canticles Of Ecstasy: Ave Maria, O auctrix vite
Canticles Of Ecstasy: Spiritus Sanctus vivificans vite
Canticles Of Ecstasy: O ignis spiritus Paracliti
Canticles Of Ecstasy: Caritas habundat in omnia
Canticles Of Ecstasy: O virgia mediatrix
Canticles Of Ecstasy: O virdissima virga, Ave
Canticles Of Ecstasy: Instrumental Piece
Canticles Of Ecstasy: O Pastor Animarum
Canticles Of Ecstasy: O tu suavissima virga
Canticles Of Ecstasy: O choruscans stellarum
Canticles Of Ecstasy: O nobilissima viriditas

Tracks:

Voice Of The Blood: O rubor sanguinis
Voice Of The Blood: Favus distillans
Voice Of The Blood: Laus Trinitati
Voice Of The Blood: In Matutinis Laudibus: 1. Studium Divinitatis; 2. Unde quocumque; 3. De patria; 4. Deus enim; 5. Aer enim volat; 6. Et ideo puellae; 7. Deus enim rorem; 8. Sed Diabolus
Voice Of The Blood: O Ecclesia
Voice Of The Blood: Instrumental Piece
Voice Of The Blood: O aeterne Deus
Voice Of The Blood: O dulcissime amator
Voice Of The Blood: Rex noster promptus est
Voice Of The Blood: O cruor sanguinis
Voice Of The Blood: Cum vox sanguinis
Voice Of The Blood: Instrumental Piece
Voice Of The Blood: O virgo Ecclesia
Voice Of The Blood: Nunc guadeant materna
Voice Of The Blood: O orzchis Ecclesia

Tracks:

O Jerusalem
O Jerusalem: Quia felix puericia - Magnificat - Quia felix puericia
O Jerusalem: O felix apparicio
O Jerusalem: O beatissime Ruperte
O Jerusalem: Instrumental Piece
O Jerusalem: O tu illustrata
O Jerusalem: Cum erubuerint
O Jerusalem: O frondens virga - Gloria Patri; Ave, generosa
O Jerusalem: O quam preciosa
O Jerusalem: O ignee spiritus
O Jerusalem: Instrumental Piece
O Jerusalem: O quam magnam miraculum est

Tracks:

Symphoniae (Spiritual Songs): O quam mirabilis est
Symphoniae (Spiritual Songs): O pulchrae facies
Symphoniae (Spiritual Songs): O virga ac diadema purpurae regis
Symphoniae (Spiritual Songs): Instrumental Piece
Symphoniae (Spiritual Songs): O clarissima mater
Symphoniae (Spiritual Songs): Instrumental Piece
Symphoniae (Spiritual Songs): Spiritui Sancto honor sit
Symphoniae (Spiritual Songs): O virtus sapientiae
Symphoniae (Spiritual Songs): O lucidissima Apostolorum turba
Symphoniae (Spiritual Songs): Instrumental Piece
Symphoniae (Spiritual Songs): O successores fortissimi leonis
Symphoniae (Spiritual Songs): O vos, felices radices
Symphoniae (Spiritual Songs): Instrumental Piece
Symphoniae (Spiritual Songs): Vos flores rosarum

Tracks:

Ordo Virtutum: Prologue: Qui sunt hi, qui ut nubes?
Ordo Virtutum: Processional Of Embodied Souls
Ordo Virtutum: Scene 1: O nos peregrine sumus
Ordo Virtutum: Anima Processional
Ordo Virtutum: Scene 1 (Cont'd): O dulcis divinitas
Ordo Virtutum: Anima Processional
Ordo Virtutum: Scene 1 (Cont'd): O gravis labor
Ordo Virtutum: Instrumental Dance - Tanz
Ordo Virtutum: Scene 2: Ego Humilitas
Ordo Virtutum: Instrumental Dance

Tracks:

Ordo Virtutum: Interlude: Symphonia: O quam magnum miraculum
Ordo Virtutum: Interlude: Symphonia: O felix anima
Ordo Virtutum: Interlude: Symphonia: O quam mirabilis
Ordo Virtutum: Instrumental lament - Klageweise
Ordo Virtutum: Scene 3: Heu! Heu! nos virtutes plangamus
Ordo Virtutum: Scene 4: Que es, aut unde venis?
Ordo Virtutum: Finale: In principio

Tracks:

Saints: To God The Father: O magne pater
Saints: To Saint Boniface: O Bonifaci
Saints: To Saint Disibodus: O mirum admirandum; Domini est terra
Saints: Instrumental Piece
Saints: O viriditas digiti dei
Saints: O beata infantia; Domine Dominus noster
Saints: O felix anima
Saints: Instrumental Piece
Saints: O presul vere civitatis

Tracks:

Saints: To Saint Maximinus: Columba aspexit
Saints: To Saint Maximinus: Instrumental Piece
Saints: To Saint Ursula : O Ecclesia
Saints: To Saint Ursula : Spiritui Sancto
Saints: To Saint Mathias: Mathias, sanctus per electionem
Saints: To The Holy Widows: O pater omnium
Saints: To Saint Eucharius: O Euchari, columba virtutem illius
Saints: To Saint Eucharius: O Euchari, in leta via ambulasti

Amazon.com's Best of 1998

For all the effort put behind the Hildegard von Bingen revival in the past decade, no one has been as persistent as Sequentia. They capped their Hildegard cycles in 1998 with the two-CD set Saints and then this eight-CD collection. Nowhere else can you get such a focused study, showing exemplary growth in vision and polyphonic presentation. The music isn't flashy, but it's inventive in methodical steps and an abiding sense of vocal textures that sounds multidimensionally complex and still categorically engrossing. --Andrew Bartlett

Amazon.com

Founded in 1977 in Cologne by Barbara Thornton and Benjamin Bagby, Sequentia set out in the early 1990s to document the entire catalog of Hildegard Von Bingen's music. They've completed the Hildegard cycle, and this eight-CD box collects the results in a solid, handsome cube--perfect for the bookshelf. The beauty of the music is undeniable and has wowed listeners since Canticles of Ecstasy set an international community of listeners on a path of discovery in 1994. The big bonus now is that you can skip over the periods of wowed seduction that will follow the inaugural listen, and take in the entire collection of single- and double-CD issues Sequentia has devoted to Hildegard's music. The recordings (and obviously the repertoire) are not particularly new, of course, but Sequentia has taken Hildegard to places no previous interpreter reached. Firstly, the group has been absolutely methodical with Hildegard, reaching always for the goal of a large collection of CDs by the 900-year anniversary of the composer's birth. Second, they've refined and perfected their take on Hildegard since first presenting this music almost 20 years ago. They've found smoother lines of execution--not to make the music in any way easier for listeners but rather in better proportion to Hildegard's philosophically well-proportioned vantage on music, spirituality, and life. Thus we have the collection of spiritual songs, Symphoniae, which relay earthly and celestial being to the polyphony of multiple voices and musical threads woven into the songs. We also have the breathlessly beautiful two CDs of Ordo Virtutum, a not-uncommon near-operatic corollary to medieval morality plays. This collection allows both newbies and committed fans the opportunity to work their way through hours and hours of musical bliss. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

Ecstasy!.......2001-04-28

This is a wonderful collection of CDs. The early music includes plain song, male and female chant, and instrumental pieces. The package is gorgeous with Bizantine fresco art work on each jewel case. For those contemplating purchase, the group is composed of previous releases: Canticles of Estacy, Voice of Blood, O Jerusalem, Symphoniae, Ordo Virtutum, and Saints. These total $117.28 if you buy them individually so there is a real savings here. Those who are new to early music are in for a treat. This is music so old it is new, and as has been said, could be music of 900 years into the future. It is so other worldly, you are easily put into a meditative state. There is enough music here to fill your whole day with ecstasy.

A Collection to Treasure.......2000-08-16

When my daughter was born about a year ago I initiated the project of collecting some of the "better music" for her, fearing that if she was only exposed to my preferred music she'd end up being a bass player in a biker band someday. I started with the Mozart piano concertos, then went to lots of Bach and other Baroque masterpieces, even ventured into some Wendy Carlos, with her "Turned On Bach." I cringe to think how much I've spent in the last year, although I must say that the investment has been worth every penny. We actually have neighbors occasionally knocking on our door wanting to know what the music is which we are playing. It seems there is an untapped market for higher music. Well, suffice it to say that I was linked to this "900 Years" set from some other CD which I was contemplating and for some reason I was tantilized, without really knowing exactly what to expect.

This music is divine, total heaven on plastic. It is prolonged euphoria. The ambience is so pervasive that it just seizes you, totally centers your focus, lifts your imagination. Without degenerating into too many additional cliches, let me just suggest that this music gives me a tremendous sense of well-being, a feeling which seems to be more elusive to me as the years go by.

I've only played it through two times in the past month since I received it, as it is quite lengthy and I don't want to desensitize myself to it. I listen to it in the morning when I'm first waking up. It brings me blissfully out of the twilight of my dreams into the vast possibilities for a new day. If one doesn't listen closely a superficial criticism may emerge that the CD's all sound similar. Play them again when you can focus more on the music and this concern will disappear. I will mention as well that if you don't have a one year old running your household, as I do, this music will be absolutely perfect for you and your favored one to listen to in front of the fireplace.

I don't have a sufficient command of the lexicon of this type of music to properly describe it to you: what comes to mind are floating feminine voices, clear resonant stringed instruments, it does indeed seems like the music of a thousand years ago, a thousand years from now. This is the music of eternity. I haven't yet read the substantive brochures which are enclosed respectively in each of the "jewel" cases, I'm afraid they may alter my interpretation of the music. If you're into that type of thing, however, I will mention that this is the best "packaged" box set I've yet purchased (of probably around 100). Each CD box has an outrageously beautiful piece of medieval art on it which perfectly compliments the music.

My daughter? She likes it, even she seems meditative when it plays. I envision it activating all types of neurological pathways in her adorable little head. I shall concede, however, that she is still cuter when she is dancing playfully to Metallica.

Track Listings:

Track Listings

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