Composed in the mid twelfth century around the time Hildegard also began writing of her mystical visions, the hymns and sequences in her Symphoniae share the same poetic imagery and intensity of expression as her other religious writings. Hildegard's fluid monody differs dramatically from the plainchant hymns of the church, where balanced phrases and stepwise motion were the norm. Instead, her chants are highly melismatic and wide ranging, shaped more in the interests of expressing the meaning of her original texts than to ...
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Composed in the mid twelfth century around the time Hildegard also began writing of her mystical visions, the hymns and sequences in her Symphoniae share the same poetic imagery and intensity of expression as her other religious writings. Hildegard's fluid monody differs dramatically from the plainchant hymns of the church, where balanced phrases and stepwise motion were the norm. Instead, her chants are highly melismatic and wide ranging, shaped more in the interests of expressing the meaning of her original texts than to conform to an abstract pattern or ecclesiastical convention. Sequentia's interpretations of these sacred songs are beautiful, and its bright sound rings in the resonant performing space. For the most part, the arrangements are reasonable approximations of medieval sound and style, though the additional flute, string, and harp parts are a little overused. In the responsory O lucidissima Apostolorum turba, the overlapping tones of the instrumental accompaniment are a distracting blur,...
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