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!
Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) was born in Germany during the Middle Ages, at a time when education and literacy were controlled by the Catholic Church. She was an abbess, visionary, prophetess, herbalist, philosopher, healer, writer, politician, poet, and composer.
Despite her claim of lacking formal training in either the Latin language or music, Hildegard produced songs that were equal to those written by the most admired men of the Middle Ages. A woman of letters, she often communicated directly with clergy of the church, including Pope Eugene III, who encouraged her to continue writing music and poetry. She went on to write several books about religion, art, politics, philosophy, science, medicine, and herbs.
Hildegard had visions that she called “reflections of the living light,” and she painted what she saw. She suffered from headaches and some scholars of her writing suspect that she may have She had many visitors at the abbey who claimed that she was able to heal them though touch and with her knowledge of herbal medicine. In time, she had so many visitors, that a larger venue was needed. The church relocated her to an abbey of her own, in Bingen, where she was able to attend to more people. She died there at the age of 81.
How does Hildegard’s music sound on harp?
Originally composed monophonically (or single line melody), Hildegard’s music is usually found as sung choral music. As Latin was written language of the day, her songs reveal a devotional poems. Scales of these songs are modal (most often in Dorian, Phrygian, and Mixolydian modes), the earliest of Western music keys.
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 her music inherent therapeutic. There 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.
I didn’t seek to make harp arrangements of Hildegard von Bingen’s music overly complex. Because I had the therapeutic musician in mind, I knew these harpists 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.
In my YouTube series Harp Escape, vol. 9 features (The Dorian Suite), a song I wrote in honor of my young son. Born in 2017, he was just a toddler when the Pandemic hit, and I wrote this song. At the time I was an artist-in-residence at Nalanda West in Seattle, a Buddhist retreat center. There, I spent hours in quietude composing, meditating, and writing in my journal. (Months before wrote a poem inspired by my new baby, later published in Literary Mama.)
When the world was experiencing early signs of the virus, before lockdown, I was at the Nalanda West a couple days a week. It was a place for me to find peace with the unknown. Any parent with young children can tell you, finding time to oneself is a precious commodity. There are many shifts throughout the day, hour by hour, minute by minute. Music and writing have always been a tool for me to get to a happy place and connect with myself and my place in the world. Through searching, through writing music and words, I was able to find an expression for the time and space of 2020, personally and globally. That is a lot of what this song is about.
This piece has several shifts: from Dorian mode to a relative minor (B minor). The meter, or rhythm, changes back and forth from 4/4 to 3/4 time. This is a musical metaphor for how I felt pulled to and fro, as mom, as musician, as person comfortable in the world, as a person uncomfortable in the world.
Here you can listen to Harp Escape vol. 9 (The Dorian Suite).
Recently I taught a an online workshop with Atrium Health Foundation called “Improvising with Hildegard von Bingen.” The music is in conjunction with my forthcoming book by Mel Bay Publications, “Songs of Hildegard von Bingen for Harp.” Atrium Health host Kathleen Blackwell-Plank has been curating a valuable workshop series for therapeutic musicians for the past few years. I was asked to teach the class rather last minute as a substitute and was so glad to have participated. After a show of hands, I realized that even in the musical community only half of people know who Hildegard von Bingen is.
So… Who was Hildegard von Bingen?
Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) was born in Germany during the Middle Ages, at a time when education and literacy were controlled by the Catholic Church. The tenth child in her family, Hildegard was “given” as a tithing to the church, not an uncommon practice of the time. When she was 14, she was sent to live a life of religious devotion in Disibodenberg. At the convent, she prayed, wrote, and only had access to the outside world through the view of a single window.
When her main caretaker, Jutta, died in 1136, Hildegard was appointed prioress of the abbey. It was during that time that she began writing music. Despite her claim of lacking formal training in either the Latin language or music, Hildegard produced songs that were equal to those written by the most admired men of the Middle Ages. A woman of letters, she often communicated directly with clergy of the church, including Pope Eugene III, who encouraged her to continue writing music and poetry. She went on to write several books about religion, art, politics, philosophy, science, medicine, and herbs.
Hildegard had visions that she called “reflections of the living light,” and she painted what she saw. She suffered from headaches and some scholars of her writing suspect that she may have She had many visitors at the abbey who claimed that she was able to heal them though touch and with her knowledge of herbal medicine. In time, she had so many visitors, that a larger venue was needed. The church relocated her to an abbey of her own, in Bingen, where she was able to attend to more people. She died there at the age of 81.
What did her music sound like?
Monophonic (single line melody), choral, sung in Latin, modal (most often in Dorian, Phrygian, and Mixolydian modes), natural minor keys, Gregorian Chant
How does this music translate to the harp?
Beautifully! Hildegard’s music is often in modes and have minimal lever changes.
I had the wonderful opportunity to read my poem, Weather Report on Orange, on the radio thanks to Vashon Island Poet Laureate Margaret Roncone. “Return to Light” features 10 island poets and will be broadcast at 12 o’clock noon on the Winter Solstice, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. I am grateful to Margaret, the other poets, and show host, Susan McCabe for this fun opportunity!
The winter solstice is a time for reflection and appreciation of the season, so give yourself a moment of quiet joy during this busy time and tune into KVSH. You can find it online at Voice of Vashon. The show will be available to listen to on the website for 2 weeks. After that, poof!
If you are reading this post after the timeframe has past, you can still read it here:
