Skip to content

Come and sing Hildegard von Bingen! 4 workshops in February and March 2025

It is with great pleasure that I announce another series of workshops around the inspiring music of Hildegard von Bingen – 12th-century abbess, composer, herbalist, linguist, and all-round influencer!

Music was a central part of Hildegard’s life – she considered it to be a foretaste of paradise. During February and March next year, I will offer four workshops (given in English, French and Dutch) that will focus on singing Hildegard von Bingen from her original notation. Once you’ve tried it you’ll never look back 🙂

Why learn to read her language?

Singing Hildegard from modern editions is problematic because our modern notation encourages a note-by-note interpretation of her melodies. Using the original notation as a basis frees up your mind and your voice as you follow the direction of the musical phrases, shown graphically on the page. It is a language that once learnt is never put aside!

Who should come?

These workshops are open to both professional and amateur singers. The only technical requirement is that you have the confidence to sing in a small group and that you can pitch and hold a note. We will learn the language of the notation together.

Practicalities:

There are four workshops planned in 2025 on 08/02, 22/02, 08/03 and 15/03, all in the beautiful Brussels Cathedral on Saturday mornings between 9:00 and 12:00. These workshops will culminate in a group performance on Sunday March 16, 2025 during 11:00 mass at the Cathedral. There will also be an end-of-series concert given by Ensemble Caldemia on Sunday March 16, 2025 at 18:00.

Because of the nature of these workshops, the number of participants is limited. First come first served! Please contact me (penelope.turner@telenet.be or +32 476 713 525) and I will send you a registration form. The basic prices are mentioned on the flyer, but please note that I am offering a reduction of 50% for students, professional musicians, the unemployed and the over 65s.

Big thanks to the Cathedral for hosting this project. I can’t wait to share this wonderful music with you!

Hildegard Revisited #47(2)

A quick post to announce that I have finished my revisiting of #47, the Marian chant Cum processit. Yay!

However, as this one is scored for organ, rather than my usual cellos and voices, it’s not possible for me to record it at home.

Cum processit – the finger of God will be premièred on December 16, 2024 during a lunchtime concert in the “Lundi d’Orgue” series in the Finistère Church in Brussels (more details here).

So you can either come and experience it live, or wait until I can upload the recording.

In the meantime, I will get going on with my next chant (#48) – watch this space!

A nice souvenir…

On the web site of the Brussels Cathedral, you will now find a nice souvenir of our recent Hildegard von Bingen mini festival in the form of a short video that gives a taste of what we got up to 🙂

Don’t hesitate to check it out!

https://www.cathedralisbruxellensis.be/video-mini-festival-hildegard

Hildegard Revisited #47

Here is the next Hildegard von Bingen antiphon up for revisiting in my Hildegard Revisited project. As ever, before I create my new piece around this work I have first recorded the monody in its original form (sung from the 12th century Dendermonde manuscript – if you are interested, can follow the neumes on the first two manuscript images below):

cum processit: an antiphon dedicated to the Virgin Mary

When the creation of God’s finger came forth, formed in God’s image, issuing of mixed blood through the pilgrim-way of Adam’s fall, then the elements received these vital joys in you, O Mary, worthy of praise, and in the reddening sky they sound you in their praises.

This project is on SoundCloud

Hildegard Revisited #46(2)

This is the first of the 14 Scivias chants – so called because their texts feature in Hildegard von Bingen’s first book of mystical theology, Scivias (short for “Know the way of the Lord”).

You’ll spot that my piece begins in English, and you may wonder where the text comes from. Well, in the Scivias manuscript there is a short introduction to the chant texts that I have translated from the Latin (as found in the Riesencodex) and set to new music. However, the phrase “Maria, chorzta gemma” is my addition. I wanted to allude to the fact that this is an antiphon dedicated to the Virgin Mary and also introduce a word from Hildegard’s lingua ignota: “chorzta” (which I choose to pronounce with a German “ch”, as in “ach!”) is one of the five words used in the chant “o orzchis ecclesia” (see here for more info regarding this chant) and it means “shining”, or “glittering”.

My plan is to set the Scivias chants as a series for live performance, and I hope to premier the first two works early next year with the specialist group that I am in the process of forming: Ensemble Caldemia. Watch this space for more info!

o splendidissima – Maria, chorzta gemma

O most splendid gem and serene glory of the sun, you into whom has poured the gushing fountain from the heart of God, which fountain is God’s only word, which created the first material of the world, which Eve threw into confusion. This word God made human for you, and because of this you are that bright material through which this very word breathed out all the virtues, just as it brought forth all the creatures from the first material.

This project is on SoundCloud