Seraphic Fire To Release Hildegard Von Bingen: Ordo Virtutum June 11

On June 11, the GRAMMY-nominated professional vocal ensemble Seraphic Fire will release Hildegard of Bingen's Ordo virtutum on its Seraphic Fire Media (SFM) label. Composed by 1151 CE, Ordo virtutum tells the story of a wandering soul, Anima, and her struggles between the forces of good and evil. The album will be the first complete, historically accurate recording of Ordo virtutum to include the gradual "Qui sunt hi" in its entirety.

"St. Hildegard of Bingen's Ordo virtutum (variously translated as 'The Play of the Virtues,' 'The Rite of the Virtues,' and so on) is the only music drama from the Middle Ages for which we have a named composer," writes Dr. Honey Meconi, author of the 2018 biography Hildegard of Bingen, professor of musicology at the Eastman School of Music and the University of Rochester, and artistic advisor to Seraphic Fire for this project. "With this recording, Seraphic Fire presents the world premiere of the complete version of Ordo virtutum on disc."

"The humanity of the work came through despite the distance of centuries," wrote the South Florida Classical Review about Seraphic Fire's performance of Ordo Virtutum just before the recording in November 2019. "Quigley...seemed to respect the original while doing his best to recreate how it must have felt to performers and audiences at the time."

Hildegard of Bingen, born to a noble family in 1098, began to experience religious visions as a young child. At the age of 14 she was enclosed (literally bricked into a cell) with the anchorite nun Jutta. On Jutta's death in 1136, when Hildegard was 38, she was made magistra (leader) of her monastic community; eventually she left confinement and founded a new abbey. In the 43 years of her monastic leadership, Hildegard would emerge as one of the leading thinkers of her age. She made significant contributions to philosophy, music, theology, and the natural sciences, and corresponded with kings and popes. Remarkable for a woman at the time, Hildegard preached in public from the pulpit, and was widely recognized as an intellectual and spiritual force. Hildegard was canonized (declared a Saint) by the Catholic Church in 2012.

The musical roles of Ordo virtutum are exclusively female. The Devil, who faces off against the heavenly Virtues in a battle for Anima's soul, is the only male character in the play, and is unable to sing; he can only shout. Luthien Brackett sings the role of Anima; Clara Osowski portrays Humility, Queen of the Virtues; and James K. Bass gives voice to the song-less Devil. Virtues, Embodied Souls, and Patriarchs and Prophets are sung by the women of Seraphic Fire, and artistic director Patrick Dupre Quigley conducts.

"The music of Hildegard of Bingen's Ordo virtutum is, at its musical core, a celebration of women and their voices," says Seraphic Fire artistic director Patrick Dupre Quigley. "Written for her own community of nuns, Hildegard created the music of the Ordo and its characters for women she knew, led, and sang with daily. It is a great joy for every member of Seraphic Fire to have the opportunity to perform and record this bedrock piece of music history, and we hope that it will encourage more performances of the Ordo in the United States."

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