I am happy to announce that Songs of Hildegard von Bingen for Harp is now available as a book from Mel Bay Publications! After two years of work arranging twenty of Hildegard’s Gregorian Chants for Harp, the book of sheet music, “Songs of Hildegard von Bingen for Harp” is available now!
I was first introduced to Hildegard’s music as a teenager, and then later in college. When I studied to become a Certified Clinical Musician, I found Hildegard’s music inherently therapeutic. Their simple nature was beautiful to me, but I had trouble finding harp arrangements of her songs. So, I set out to arrange some of the tunes myself. What started as arranging just one song, turned into an entire book of sheet music!
I devised this book with several concepts in mind. First and foremost, I wanted to honor the work, inspiration, and format of the original compositions by Hildegard von Bingen. At her time, music was largely written monophonically, or single note voicing. Harmonies were either non-existent, or commonly heard as intervals of 4ths or 5ths. Therefore, the beginnings of all of these songs have this in mind.
Another element of these songs recognizes their inherent therapeutic nature. In keeping in line with that, I know that these songs work best in their simplest forms. Often harpists at the bedside will have a small harp, or a folk harp. I wanted to make this music accessible for as many people as possible, so that if the goal was to play for people with physical, mental, or sleep ailments, they could do that with the harp size available to them.
When you buy the book, you have access to the audio recordings. (Public release of the album will be in early 2025.) You also have the option of purchasing songs as individual download. In the meantime, listen to the songs on YouTube.
One of my favorite things about the book, is that I was able to curate the cover (something of a rarity in book publishing). My husband, Stephen Schildbach, drew Hildegard playing the harp in a mandala-like illustration, based on the style of Hildegard’s artwork.
You can BUY THE BOOK NOW!