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Track(s) taken from CDA66039

O Jerusalem

composer
Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
author of text
Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

Emma Kirkby (soprano), Gothic Voices, Christopher Page (conductor)
Recording details: September 1981
St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Martin Compton
Engineered by Tony Faulkner
Release date: April 1985
Total duration: 8 minutes 2 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

Grace Davidson (soprano)

Reviews

‘I was spellbound by both the music and the presentation … and have remained so ever since … a jewel in Hyperion's crown’ (Gramophone)

‘A wonderful evocation of Mass being celebrated by St Maximinus, painted in Hildegard's wonderfully perfumed language’ (BBC Record Review)

‘These hymns and sequences, most expertly performed and recorded, have excited much acclaim – and rightly so. A lovely CD’ (The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs)

‘The most beautiful choral record of the year … hauntingly compelling’ (The Guardian)

‘An outright winner that merits a place in every collection’ (The Good CD Guide)

‘It's magnificent … entrancing. Don't miss this very special record … utterly flawless’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘A beautiful CD’ (Daily Mail)

‘This is a marvellously moving recital … restrained, unexaggerated, and very, very beautiful. High loveliness like this is not common’ (Hi-Fi News)

‘Flawless’ (Early Music)

‘This remains the prime example of Von Bingen's astounding creativity and originality. Her expressive, often awesome music ranks as the greatest of medieval composers. It's already sold over 200,000 copies! If you missed it, there's no reason to hesitate. Sensational!’ (In Tune, Japan)

‘Spellbinding music … of rare beauty’ (Westminster Press)
O Jerusalem celebrates Saint Rupert. Hildegard re-founded his monastery in 1150 and moved there with her nuns. The original buildings were destroyed by the Normans (the ‘fools’ of the Sequence), providing Hildegard with a potent but implicit comparison between her monastery and Jerusalem, destroyed on Earth and rebuilt in Heaven (Revelations 21, whence some of the imagery of this Sequence is derived). The ‘living stones’ (‘vivis lapidibus’) have been taken from the hymn Urbs beata Jerusalem for the dedication of a church (but compare 1 Peter 2: 4-5). Perhaps Hildegard composed this Sequence for the dedication ceremony, or for its commemoration. In this case the ‘ostensio’ of stanza six may be an ostension, or ‘showing’, of the relics of Saint Rupert during the ceremony.

from notes by Christopher Page © 1982

Other albums featuring this work

Gothic Voices Gramophone Award Winners Collection
Gothic Voices, Christopher Page (conductor)
CDS44251/33CDs Boxed set (at a special price) — Download only
Hildegard of Bingen: A feather on the breath of God - Vinyl Edition
Gothic Voices, Christopher Page (conductor)
LPA66039
Hildegard of Bingen: Sacred chants
Grace Davidson (soprano)
Studio Master: SIGCD717Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available

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