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Hildegard of Bingen and Musical Reception: The Modern Revival of a Medieval Composer (Book Review)

John MacInnis Dordt College, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation MacInnis, J. (2016). Hildegard of Bingen and Musical Reception: The Modern Revival of a Medieval Composer (Book Review). Notes, 73 (2), 300. https://doi.org/10.1353/not.2016.0132

This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Collections @ Dordt. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Work Comprehensive List by an authorized administrator of Digital Collections @ Dordt. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Hildegard of Bingen and Musical Reception: The Modern Revival of a Medieval Composer (Book Review)

Abstract Reviewed Title: Hildegard of Bingen and Musical Reception: The Modern Revival of a Medieval Composer by Jennifer Bain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. 235 pp. ISBN: 9781107076662.

Keywords book review, Jennifer Bain, Hildegard of Bingen and Musical Reception, modern, revival, medieval, composer

Disciplines Music

Comments • Reprinted with permission from the publisher.

• MacInnis, J. "Hildegard of Bingen and Musical Reception: The Modern Revival of a Medieval Composer by Jennifer Bain (review)." Notes, vol. 73 no. 2, 2016, pp. 300-302. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/not.2016.0132

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Access provided by Dordt College (5 Dec 2016 21:47 GMT) 300 Notes, December 2016

As much as this reviewer hopes that invites further research, and as that re- Symonds’s next volume will take a more search is conducted in the years to come, critical approach, there is much to admire We’ll Have Manhattan will provide a strong about We’ll Have Manhattan. Due to its foundation. technical vocabulary, this overdue survey of Rodgers and Hart’s early works will prob- Christopher Lynch ably be most useful to scholars. The book Franklin & Marshall College

COMPOSERS Hildegard of Bingen and Musical Reception: The Modern Revival of a Medieval Composer. By Jennifer Bain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. [xiii, 235 p. ISBN 9781107076662 (hardcover), $99.99; ISBN 9781316309711 (e-book), $80.] Music examples, illustrations, discogra- phy, bibliography, index.

In 2001, the Swedish folk-rock band church housing Hildegard’s relics in Garmarna released an album titled Eibingen. Bain tells the story of the revival Hildegard von Bingen, which featured mod- of Hildegard’s music in the nineteenth and ern, upbeat renderings of her medieval twentieth centuries and her reception in chants using electronic instruments and se- those eras. As the author explains, recep- quencers. The creativity of these settings by tion reveals ideology, and studying the Garmarna is striking, and it is noteworthy dynamics at play with regard to when and that the author of the lyrics is the same how Hildegard’s writings and music were Doctor of the Church celebrated by Pope championed discloses both the personal Benedict XVI as a theologian, a teacher, agendas and the larger cultural forces at and a model for Christians today. In fact, as work. Although discussion of specific com- Jennifer Bain makes plain in this straight- positions by Hilde gard is present in this forward and engaging book, it seems as volume, the primary emphases for this though every generation has its own book are cultural and historical. Hildegard. After summarizing Hildegard’s legacy, Bain begins by describing her own intro- which was never truly forgotten in German- duction to Hildegard von Bingen (1098– speaking lands, from her death until the 1179) while a music student in the 1990s. 1850s, Bain emphasizes two revivals of She recalls that, at that time, it was hard to Hildegard’s music. The initial musical re- imagine that a woman composed music in vival began in 1857, with the first modern the Middle Ages, and it was easy to assume performance of Hildegard’s song “O virga that Hildegard had been rediscovered in ac diadema” (“O branch and diadem”). the late twentieth century (p. 1). In fact, Ludwig Schneider, himself a scholar and Bain’s encounter with the significant body musician, transcribed “O virga ac di- of evidence testifying to Hildegard’s pro- adema” directly from the Riesencodex nounced importance throughout the cen- (a.k.a. the Wiesbaden Codex) so that it turies after her death was the impetus for could be sung at a special service celebrat- this book; she concluded that “the trope of ing both the authentication of Hildegard’s the forgotten female figure” does not apply relics and Hildegard’s own feast day on here (p. 35). 17 September 1857 (also the anniversary of Bain demonstrates that though Hilde- her passing). The Riesencodex dates from gard’s story and her scholarship were around the time of Hildegard’s death, and known and cherished, especially in it contains Hildegard’s letters and writings German-speaking lands, Hildegard’s music as well as her Ordo virtutum and seventy-five was first performed and promoted in the of her seventy-seven chants. (Bain notes mid-nineteenth century, through the ef- that the Riesencodex is freely accessible forts of Ludwig Schneider, who witnessed online at https://www.hs-rm.de/de/service the dissolution of Hildegard’s convent in /hochschul-und-landesbibliothek/suchen- 1814 and who served as a priest for the finden/sondersammlungen/der-riesen Book Reviews 301 codex-hildegards-von-bingen/ [accessed incorporating them into nearby principali- 27 June 2016].) ties, which, in some cases, placed Catholics Throughout her narrative, Bain quotes under Protestant rule. In this reorganiza- extensively from current literature on tion, abbey properties, such as Hildegard’s, Hildegard as well as from historical sources. were sometimes given over to the new For example, Bain cites specific liturgical ruler. The repercussions from such drastic elements included in the 1857 service, such restructuring were felt for decades, and, in as the song “O Sancta Hildegardis,” which the 1870s, state regulation of religious insti- was sung to the same tune as “Ave Maria tutions resulted in strong resistance from Klare,” and Schneider’s own two-stanza an- clergy and bishops, who were sometimes tiphon “Ave Hildegardis” using Hildegard’s jailed and exiled. name as an acrostic. These historical and cultural details are Schneider’s tireless efforts in studying significant, as Bain emphasizes, because and promoting of Hildegard in the nine- they inform how we should understand teenth century can be understood in sev- Schneider’s and Schmelzeis’s presentation eral lights. The erudite revival of liturgical of Hildegard preeminently as a German chant championed by the Monks of Catholic. Both men lived at a time when it Solesmes is well known, but a revival of seemed that to be German was to be chant was also underway in German areas, Protestant, and their work pushed back on in the Cecilian movement, when Schneider that notion. In contrast, Bain reminds us presented Hildegard’s “O virga ac di- that we are inclined to emphasize adema” in 1857. Bain describes how the Hildegard’s womanhood; for many twenty- Thirty Years’ War (1618–48) was disruptive first-century music students, Hildegard is to the practice of German Catholicism and preeminently a female composer. In either resulted in “a collective loss of association case, our reception says something about with the Latin liturgy and plainchant” in our cultural and historical context as well German churches, which tended to use the as our priorities. German vernacular and drew on the The revival of Hildegard’s music in the German hymn tradition (p. 122). Because twentieth century was dazzling in its of this disassociation with the Latin chant breadth and the ingenuity of those who en- tradition, Schneider published “O virga ac gaged with her creations. A prime differ- diadema” and other of Hildegard’s chants ence between this more recent revival, di- using a five-line staff and modern rhythmic verse as it was, and the nineteenth-century notation. Bain explains that this sort of mu- revival, was their mediums. Whereas sical accommodation was necessary. Schneider, Schmelzeis, and the Monks of Schneider was succeeded by Johann Solesmes used print media, twentieth- Philipp Schmelzeis as parish priest in century Hildegard enthusiasts engaged and Eibingen. Schmelzeis took up Schneider’s shared her music through recordings. In efforts promoting Hildegard, and even her introduction, Bain states that this book published a large book describing Hilde - is weighed heavily toward the nineteenth gard’s life and accomplishments, drawing century, and those interested in reading upon Schneider’s extensive research. In more about the more recent revival of this biography, Schmelzeis included a chap- Hildegard’s music should consult two other ter by Raymund Schlecht dedicated to articles by Bain: “Hildegard on 34th Street: Hildegard’s music. Schlecht was a church Chant in the Marketplace,” Echo: A Music- music scholar who also transcribed several Centered Journal 6, no. 1 (2004) and of Hildegard’s chants for inclusion in this “Hooked on Ecstasy: Perfor mance volume. ‘Practice’ and the Reception of the Music Confessionalization and national identity of Hildegard of Bingen,” in The Sounds and were bound together in the civil lives of Sights of Performance in Early Music, ed. Catholics and Protestants in Germanic Brian E. Power and Maureen Epp countries in the nineteenth century. Thus (Farnham, Surrey, Eng.: Ashgate, 2009). Schneider and Schmelzeis’s activities can While other examinations of Hildegard’s be understood as personal exercises of that reception, in various eras, are available, identity. The Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of Bain’s contribution in this book is musical: 1803 had secularized ecclesiastical states by this is the story of the modern revival of a 302 Notes, December 2016 medieval composer. This volume is especially Victorian-era biography that, in its most re- relevant for medievalists and musicologists cent edition by Elliot Forbes, remains un- and would make an excellent inclusion in surpassed for richness of detail and docu- academic libraries. In addition to being an mentary rigor), Swafford’s book aims to admirable resource for Hildegard scholars, present an unbiased view of its subject that this book is also helpful for those con- prefers “objective fact” to “interpretation” cerned with the history of church music, (p. xv). Elusive though this goal may be, chant revival in the nineteenth century, the book deftly navigates Beethoven’s fam- and the work of Ludwig Schneider, a wor- ily history, political environment, and pro- thy scholar and a selfless man. fessional life to create a rich portrait of an John MacInnis individual whose reality has often been ob- Dordt College scured by his legacy. Swafford’s handling of Beethoven’s Bonn years is especially effec- tive and sets the tone for the biography. Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph; A Rather than a mere prelude to the more Biography. By Jan Swafford. Boston: musically interesting Vienna years, the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014. Bonn chapters serve to establish Beetho- [xxi, 1077 p. ISBN 9780618054749. ven’s lifelong investment in the ideals of $40.] Music examples, illustrations, ap- the German Aufklärung, ideals that—as pendix, bibliography, index. Swafford details—stayed with Beethoven throughout his career and marked him as Beethoven was a man of contradictions. an Enlightenment thinker in an increas- Generous to a fault, he was often petty and ingly romantic and politically repressive could be duplicitous in his business affairs. world. He cared deeply for his nephew Karl but of- The importance of Beethoven’s Bildung ten treated him miserably. He made is echoed in Swafford’s conception of his supreme declarations of faith in his music music. Beethoven was not so much a revo- but disdained church dogma. He devoted lutionary as a “radical evolutionary” who himself to women he could not attain and, “based much of what he did on tradition, most heartrendingly of all, to an art that for models, and authorities” without ever in- much of his adulthood, he was unable to tending “to overthrow the past” (p. 365). experience. Swafford supports this notion through These contradictions come to the fore in clear and at times extensive analyses of in- Jan Swafford’s Beethoven: Anguish and dividual works that occasionally make refer- Triumph, a vivid and sympathetic portrayal ence to Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and others of Beethoven’s life and music. His biogra- (although, as he admits in the introduc- phy joins an impressive corpus of English- tion, he does not “play the influences game language biographies that includes those as much as many writers do” [p. xvii]). A by Maynard Solomon (1977, 1998), William noted composer in his own right, Swafford Kinderman (1995, 2009), David Wyn Jones brings his professional expertise to bear on (1998), Lewis Lockwood (2003), and Barry his analyses, several of which proceed from Cooper (2008), among others. It draws on a composer’s-eye perspective. The lengthy several of these, but distinguishes itself in analysis of the “Eroica” (chapter 17), for in- its more comprehensive scope and overall stance, shifts into present tense, makes fre- tone, geared more for music lovers than for quent reference to the sketches, and in- scholars or performers. This is not to say volves a bit of creative speculation about that the book lacks scholarly rigor, only Beethoven’s compositional process. Purists that much of the nitty-gritty—both bio- may balk at the somewhat florid literary graphical and musical—is relegated to the style of these passages, but they are ar- copious endnotes section, and that the guably effective in simulating the creative ebb and flow of the text is considerably moment for the reader. more narrative compared to these earlier Swafford treats the complexities of biographies. Beethoven’s life with the sure hand of an Written, according to the author, in the experienced biographer (his previous writ- spirit of Alexander Wheelock Thayer’s ings include biographies of Ives and magisterial Life of Ludwig van Beethoven (the Brahms). To give just one example, in light