Sequentia - Classical Music
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Hildegard von Bingen: Canticles of Ecstasy : RCA
Although Hildegard von Bingen's music has been around for 900 years--and recordings of her music for decades--it seems that only now, as we approach the turn of another millennium, the time is right for the world to pay attention. In this first-rate traversal of her music--the most popular of several volumes released by the early-music ensemble Sequentia--we hear music that resulted from Hildegard's legendary visions, which often included song texts that she subsequently collected and dispensed to her religious community of women. As rendered here by the voices and instruments of Sequentia, her music invokes an unobscured sense of mystery, conforming to Hildegard's belief that music was our bridge to the harmonies of the heavens. Whether or not we're experiencing that "heavenly harmony" here, the simple, direct, beautifully turned melodies, sung by pure, finely tuned, warm-colored women's voices, often eerily accompanied by an instrumental drone, is heavenly enough. --David Vernier - $6.52
Hildegard von Bingen: Voice of the Blood
Vision: The Music of Hildegard von Bingen
Hildegard von Bingen: Symphoniae (Spiritual Songs) - Sequentia
Edda - An Icelandic Saga - Myths From Medieval Iceland / Sequentia : RCA
Sequentia here performs a miracle of musical restoration, bringing to vibrant life medieval Icelandic texts about gods and heroes inhabiting a mythic past. Drawing on oral traditions and informed scholarly speculations about long-dead performing styles, they have come up with a hypnotic disc that startles with its power and beauties. The songs and recitations are interwoven with captivating fiddle tunes, and the singers wrench surprising emotions from the old texts. The late Barbara Thornton shines in her solos and duets, and Benjamin Bagby's mesmerizing chanting, recitation, and singing brings us as close as we're likely to get to sitting at the feet of the bards of old. An extraordinary disc that shouldn't be missed. --Dan Davis - $7.14
Shining Light, Music from Aquitanian Monasteries
Hildegard von Bingen: Canticles of Ecstasy
Shining Light, Music from Aquitanian Monasteries
Edda - An Icelandic Saga - Myths From Medieval Iceland / Sequentia
Edda - An Icelandic Saga - Myths From Medieval Iceland / Sequentia
Hildegard von Bingen: Canticles of Ecstasy
Shining Light, Music from Aquitanian Monasteries
Hildegard von Bingen: Canticles of Ecstasy
Edda - An Icelandic Saga - Myths From Medieval Iceland / Sequentia
Hildegard von Bingen: Canticles of Ecstasy
Hildegard von Bingen: Symphoniae (Spiritual Songs) - Sequentia
Hildegard von Bingen: Canticles of Ecstasy
Hildegard von Bingen: Voice of the Blood
English Songs of the Middle Ages - Sequentia : RCA
If you're looking for medieval songs in English, you'll find a disappointing number of surviving manuscripts--not even enough to make up a Top 40. Among the 20 or so pieces that remain are tantalizing hints at the richness and attractiveness of this long-vanished body of repertoire. The singers and instrumentalists of the early music group Sequentia are happy to tantalize us, and these 13 songs--including the classic "Bryd one brere" (Bird on briar), the familiar carol "Edi be thu, heven-queene," and several enticing instrumental numbers that sound almost like Scottish reels--remind us that not all medieval music resided in cloisters and cathedrals. --David Vernier - $22.00
Hildegard von Bingen: Voice of the Blood
Edda - An Icelandic Saga - Myths From Medieval Iceland / Sequentia
Hildegard von Bingen: Ordo Virtutum : RCA
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 - $13.99
Hildegard von Bingen: Canticles of Ecstasy
Hildegard von Bingen: Voice of the Blood
Hildegard von Bingen: Symphoniae (Spiritual Songs) - Sequentia
The Complete Hildegard von Bingen, Volume One: Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations
Lost Songs of a Rhineland Harper [Hybrid SACD] : RCA
Presuming it wasn't always religion or lovesickness, what did people sing about in the 10th and 11th centuries? The answer is presented here by the small group known as Sequentia, in a program of songs which were found in a 1000-year-old collection at Cambridge University, songs that had been copied down by Augustinian monks. The subjects vary from re-telling the complete myth of Orpheus and Eurydice (in 10 minutes!) to one about King David, to a lover's tale of the appearance, at night, of her dead darling. Along the way there are songs about how good it is to sing, a dialogue between a man and the nun he is trying to seduce (actually, there are a few "seduction" songs here), one about the three German emperors named Otto and more. There are three singers---occasionally all are involved at once, at times there are duets, several are solos. A harp, lyre, and, occasionally, flute are used as accompaniments. While one can hardly expect toe-tappers, this fascinating collection is incredibly catchy; the three singers are expressive storytellers who sing in a natural, non-operatic manner, and the style, though unfamiliar, is riveting. Recommended---a fine curiosity. --Robert Levine - $12.04
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