Hildegard was a remarkably progressive woman for someone born in the late 11th century. She petitioned the church and fought against its ridiculous laws, wrote on theology, and was heavily devoted to the practicality and benefit of music. Honestly, I think she would be vehemently despised in this current day and age if she spoke against the church like she did. She was bold and held to her beliefs in a remarkably admirable way. I am truly saddened that this is the first time I have learned about her in my education. I have spent countless hours learning about men who spoke against the church, like Martin Luther, but never about Hildegard. (Granted she didn't start a new church but she still was incredibly progressive and should have been recognized.) I love how she stood her ground and fought for what she believed in. She did what I would wager almost no one did at that point, and she argued so well, that she swayed the church into relenting and allowing her convent to re-participate in music once again. She was revolutionary and I am astounded. I will promptly be doing more research on her and I may have a new role model!
Word painting in Weelkes’s As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending is quite interesting. And because that is a really long title, I’m calling it Vesta from now on. Word painting is basically when the melody matches up with the lyrics. So in Vesta, when it says “ascending” and “descending”, there are obviously scales going up and down. The madrigal was written for six voices to sing unaccompanied, so when they start to come together, it matches with the lyrics; so if the lyric says “two by two”, there are only two voices; “three by three” there is another voice added, and so forth. All the parts combine in exclamation before Vesta before it is left “all alone” to the highest soprano. All the way to the end of the piece, word painting continues when shouts of “Long live fair Oriana” with the bass sustaining long notes. Word painting in and of itself is a highly interesting topic because a musician takes the words of a poem or a sonnet and writes a melody line that pertains to cer...
Hildegard is one of my favorite women from history! I'm glad someone else sees what a boss she is. Unfortunately, our history records are very much upper-class, male based. You have to be literate to leave something for future generations. That's why Hildegard's music and story are so important! We get a glimpse into the female perspective of the past!
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