Hildegard von Bingen

One of the most remarkable creative personalities of the Middle Ages, Hildegard von Bingen spent almost her entire life in the Church, allowing her the freedom to flourish as a composer, poet, playwright and naturalist. Born near Alzey, Germany, in 1098, she founded her own Benedictine convent at Rupertsberg, near Bingen, in around 1150, an event she commemorated on “O Jerusalem Aurea Civitas”. As Abbess, she became famous for her prophecies, miracles and diplomatic skills, and was consulted by popes, emperors and intellectuals until her death in 1179. Two German manuscripts preserve 76 of her songs and the miracle play Ordo Virtutum (1151)—all notated as single melodic lines (rhythmic notation had yet to be invented). The songs are conceived on a grand scale, wider in compass and longer than traditional plainsong, and range in style from the fairly syllabic (“O Viridissima Virga”) to stratospheric melodies with elaborate melismas that match her brilliant imagery (“Ave Maria, O Auctrix Vite”).