Notker Balbulus

Benedictine monk Notker Balbulus (from what is now Switzerland) is one of the first figures in the Western tradition to have a large body of compositions under his name. Notker Balbulus was born around 840 in one of several villages near the Abbey of St. Gall in what is now St. Gallen, Switzerland. Notker completed the Liber Hymnorum ("Book of Hymns") in 884. He was a noted teacher and held various leadership positions at St. Gall. Notker died at the abbey on April 6, 912. Students learning the history of chant are taught about him, and his pieces have appeared on recorded collections of chants in the past, but few have attempted to depict him as a composer. That changed in 2025 with the release of the album Notker Balbulus: Liber ymnorum by the Schola Antiqua of Chicago.