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Rating: An underwater listening experience.
In the depths of medieval asceticism. Listening to the chants that Hildegard von Bingen composed over nine centuries ago leaves one speechless, as time crumbles into the calm abyss of the infinite and the absolute.
Hildegard's music - mystic, poet, musician, and "visionary" - is not just singing; it is the strings of the soul vibrating in unison with God. A God who is present and alive, whose greatness and transcendence can be physically felt. A God who takes shape in the melismas of the voice, incarnated in the echoes and reverberations of the music like a voice resonating in a cathedral. Chants that blossom like roses, phrases that pierce the heart with thorns of such profound greatness that they frighten. A greatness that endures through time.
In this album, it is the voice of soprano Rosa Lamoreaux that embodies the spirit of Hildegard. It is an immaculate conception of singing, an epiphany. But just listen to how "O Ignis Spiritus" floats suspended to understand the immensity of this grand and powerful musical fresco. There is a seed, an idea, and that's all. It is only this trace that Hildegard left behind. And whoever sings it can develop it as they see fit. Provided they dare. Listening to Hildegard is a Nirvana, a catharsis. It is a fire that illuminates and does not burn. It is one of those experiences that leave you breathless and without a reason. It's like feeling the earth crumble under your feet; you have the thrill of the steep precipice and the vision of the sky above you, and you see only the sky.
Whether listening to her with Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble or in this "Luminous Spirit," Hildegard's spirit shines with a modernity born nearly a millennium in advance. Her musical message, first and foremost human and divine, is like a thick wall of rock, a medieval wall with solid foundations, unshakeable. "Caritas Habundat in Omnia" wounds you without harming, it washes over your ears and heart, a shell recalling the eternity of which it is a child. "Vos Flores Rosarum" captures the soul as an orgasm captures the flesh. "O Gloriosissimi Lux" floats in the air like a cloud undecided on becoming a storm or a cirrus heralding spring. It is Hildegard von Bingen who gave voice to God, as Mary gave Him flesh. For a thousand years.
"Because I am a human creature without education, I have had no school to teach me the things that can be learned externally; but I have received my teachings internally, in my soul, and it is from here that I speak to you"
Tracklist
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