Composer: Hildegard von Bingen
Performer: Ensemble Belcanto, Dietburg Spohr
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: ECM
Catalogue: 4764633
Release: 2013
Size: 281 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Patriarchae Et Prophetae I
02. Patriarchae Et Prophetae II
03. Querela Animarum In Carne Positarum
04. Felix Anima I
05. Felix Anima II
06. Sed Gravata Anima Conqueritur
07. Anima Illa I
08. Scientia Dei Ad Animam Illam
09. Infelix Anima
10. Scienta Dei
11. Anima Illa II
12. Strepitus Diabolo Ad Animam Illam
13. Diabolus I
14. Humilitas I
15. Humilitas II
16. Humilitas III
17. Caritas
18. Timor Dei
19. Diabolus II
20. Obedientia
21. Fides
22. Spes
23. Castitas I
24. Innocentia
25. Contemptus Mundi
26. Amor Caelestis
27. Disciplina
28. Verecundia
29. Misericordia
30. Victoria I
31. Discretio
32. Patientia
33. Humilitas IV
34. Querela Animarum Paenitentis
35. Anima Illa III
36. Anima Illa IV
37. Paenitens Anima Ad Virtutes
38. Anima Illa V
39. Humilitas V
40. Humilitas VI
41. Diabolus III
42. Paenitens Anima
43. Anima Illa VI
44. Humilitas Ad Victoriam
45. Victoria Ad Virtutes
46. Humilitas VII
47. Victoria II
48. Castitas II
49. Diabolus IV
50. Castitas III
51. Epilog
This is the second New Series album to feature the Stuttgart-based Ensemble Belcanto. Where its 2001 predecessor focused on contemporary composition by Wolfgang Rihm and others (Come un’ombra di luna – 4617192), this disc looks at Hildegard of Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum, written around 1150 and generally considered the first large-scale musical work beyond the prescribed form of the Mass liturgy. This is sacred music reflecting Medieval thought, as music and morality play are intertwined.
In her creative interpretation, Belcanto leader Dietburg Spohr waives claims to ‘objective’ historical literalness. Instead, she and her fellow singers encounter the work as if it were written specifically for the Ensemble Belcanto: “We sought to free Hildegard from mystical, esoteric associations and to emphasize the work of an emancipated woman and composer.” They have been performing the music of Hildegard von Bingen since the early 1990s, and view her compositions as a joyously experimental bridge between the Middle Ages and contemporary music.
Ensemble Belcanto was formed in 1986 by mezzo-soprano Dietburg Spohr, then a member of Clytus Gottwald’s Schola Cantorum in Stuttgart, drawing on her experiences in improvisation as well as choral music, classical singing and new music performance. The group has been committed to adventurous programming from the outset, and many composers have written music for the ensemble.