Hildegard of Bingen Life and Music Essay

Hildegard was born in 1098 to a noble German family at Bermersheim, south of Mainz. According to Hildegard’s biography, her parents offered her as the youngest often children to God as a tithe. Hildegard of Bingen was born in 1098 on her parent’s estate near Alzey in Rhenish Hesse. She was the tenth and last child of the noble couple Hildebert and Mechtild of Bermersheim. Seven of her brothers and sisters are known by name. In 1106, when she was eight years old, her parents consecrated her to God, entrusting her to Jutta of Spanheim, who was living as a hermit at the Benedictine monastery at Disibodenbeg. The monk Volmar, who became Hildegard’s personal friend and amanuensis, saw to her later education. Between 1112 and 1115, Hildegard professed her vows as a Benedictine nun. â€Å"As Jutta’s spiritual flume grew, a religious community for women led by the recluse was established; upon Jutta’s death in 1136, Hildegard was elected head of the community† . In 1141, at the age of forty-two years and seven months, Hildegard heard a voice from heaven that directed her to record the visions she had experienced since early childhood. At first reluctant, Hildegard finally acquiesced to the bidding of the Living Light . â€Å"As her writings became well known, Hildegard developed a reputation as a prophetess and healer. However, her prophetic ability did not manifest itself in predictions of the future but rather in an understanding and interpretation of contemporary events† . Five years later, in 1141, through an especially brilliant vision, she received the divine command to write down her visions. Just as on previous occasions. she resisted, became ill, and recovered only when she began to record her visions. Her hesitation was rooted in her strong critical views of charlatans. Pope Eugenius III. aware of the written account and on the recommendation of Bernard of Claivaux, read the first part of her Scivias before the Synod of Trier (1147—49). At the same time, he sent a papal commission to Disibodenberg to study the authenticity of Hildegard’s visions. When he became certain of her genuineness, the Pope gave the Church’s approval in a letter and encouraged Hildegard to continue her writing. In addition to her spiritual duties, Hildegard was engaged in the secular events of her day. She corresponded with temporal and religious Ieaders, providing advice and urging reform. Although Frederick I Barbarossa had invited her to his imperial palace at Ingeiheim, Hildegard later admonished the emperor because of his support of three anti-popes. Nonetheless, she obtained letters of protection from Frederick that saved the Rupertsberg community when fighting broke out between imperial troops and those loyal to the Pope. Hildegard undertook three preaching tours between 1158 and 1163 and a final one in 1170—1171; her travels took her to cathedral cries and monastic communities along the Upper and Lower Rhine as well as to more distant venues like Wikrzburg and Bamberg. The purpose of the tours was to promote monastic and clerical reform and to combat heretical sects, in particular the Cathars. As the Benedictine abbess’s reputation grew, the Rupertsberg communitv flourished. With the increased number of residents, a second community to accommodate young women of a less noble background was established in 1165 across the Rhine River near Eibingen. Because Hildegard intervened to bury a man who purportedly had died excommunicated, the Eibingen and Ruperrsberg communities were placed under interdict in 1178, unable to hear Mass, receive the Eucharist, or sing the Divine Office. The matter was resolved and the interdict lifted just six months before the abbess’s death on September 17, 1179 . From 1112 to 1182, Hildegard went through a life of nunnery and composers. At first, her piece has been directed towards the religious angles of Benedictines, mainly sung, and utilized in churches to which she had served. However, by 1182, the trigger of her success in the field of music has soared massively through her several compositions that proved of value. The fame of her scores had eventually reached and influence the current time; however, questions lie, such as how did her fame started? How and what are the influences provided by her compositions? Lastly, how was this look upon during her times as well as the present musical field?