The title of this collection of eleventh and twelfth century sacred song, Hildegard von Bingen: Composer & Mystic, is misleading since less than two-thirds of the album is devoted to Hildegard's music. The rest is given to music by Peter Abelard and from anonymous sources. Taken as a purely musical experience, the album has much to commend it. The performances by the vocal and instrumental quartet Ensemble für Frühe Musik Augsburg are attractive and skillfully sung and played, and the selections are nicely varied in content ...
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The title of this collection of eleventh and twelfth century sacred song, Hildegard von Bingen: Composer & Mystic, is misleading since less than two-thirds of the album is devoted to Hildegard's music. The rest is given to music by Peter Abelard and from anonymous sources. Taken as a purely musical experience, the album has much to commend it. The performances by the vocal and instrumental quartet Ensemble für Frühe Musik Augsburg are attractive and skillfully sung and played, and the selections are nicely varied in content and arrangement. Listeners' appreciation for the CD will most likely hinge on the importance they place on informed historical performance practice, because as appealing as the performances are, most have little relationship with the music as it would have been heard by its original audiences. The performers take from the period performance movement the general principal that the notation of music of certain eras is an incomplete and sometimes imprecise guide, and that the music can...
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