The local classical station has been showcasing female composers, a show I’ve caught several times the past week in late-night drives home. After one particularly moving piece of music, the host returned to say, “That music is nine hundred years old!” Which brought me to learn of Hildegard von Bingen, a 12th-century Benedictine nun that I gathered must be a saint. (As later learned, I was right.)
St. Hildegard did it all—she penned books of poetry and medicine; she wrote liturgical music; she preached and taught. She founded multiple monasteries in Germany, and is considered the founder of natural history in that country. It wasn’t until 2012 that she was formally recognized as a saint and Doctor of the Church. (Over 800 years after her death, if you’re doing the math.)
Her most ambitious and largest work is Scivias, where she records and interprets the visions she’d had since early childhood. The book covers everything from Creation and God’s relationship with man, to redemption through Christ, to the history of salvation. And this inspired her musical works, too.
Of all Medieval composers, St. Hildegard’s is one of the largest repertoires to survive. Despite her vast amount of liturgical music, one of her most popular works is Ordo Virtutum, a morality play. It’s still based in religion, so she doesn’t veer too far from her norm. (My favorite detail in the play is the Devil, who doesn’t have any music at all in his part—he shouts his lines instead.)
As expected, being a mystic with visions didn’t come without some controversy. Her monastery had permitted the burial of a man who’d been excommunicated—much displeasing to others in the Church—but Hildegard insisted that he’d repented. She also confronted the Roman Emperor for supporting several antipopes. And she challenged the Cathars, an gnostic movement, for their incorrect views of Christianity.
Unlike most saints, she seems to have lived a long and prosperous life. She died at age 81, no small feat during the Middle Ages. Interest in her life has piqued recently, for her views on faith and holistic medicine. Her music, too, is certainly notable enough for inclusion in a “women composers” showcase (and not just because it’s the oldest). These weren’t just topics relevant to her era—they’re relevant now, still. A YouTube search provides countless hours of her music, and Scivias covers… nearly everything. (You know that’s going on my to-read list.) Also, with women seldom having vocal roles during her lifetime, she’s something of a role model.
She also has a minor planet named after her—898 Hildegard—so that’s pretty cool.
“Sometimes when we hear a song we breathe deeply and sigh. This reminds the prophet that the soul arises from heavenly harmony. In thinking about this, he was aware that the soul itself has something in itself of this music.”
—St. Hildegard
