A Feather on the Breath of God: Songs of Hildegard von Bingen

With its wonderfully evocative title, this is the album which catapulted Hildegard of Bingen to modern fame. One of the greatest creative personalities of the Middle Ages—poet, naturalist, visionary and composer—she wrote 70 spiritual songs for her convent in Germany. Single melodic lines imagined on a magnificent scale, they range from simple syllabic settings, to elaborate, spiralling melodies mirroring the mystical imagery of Hildegard’s texts. Gothic Voices perform in a resonant acoustic so that notes hang in the air and form their own “heavenly” harmony. Sometimes underpinned by the sustained drone of a medieval “symphony” (hurdy-gurdy), the singing rises up pure, clear and ecstatic. Time stands still as serenity and spirituality combine in music which still has the power to captivate after nearly 1000 years.