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The Hildegard Motets: 4. O factura Dei

Ferko, Frank

SKU
4991*
E. C. Schirmer Music Company
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The Hildegard Motets: 4. O factura Dei - 4991
$2.25
The Hildegard Motets: 4. O factura Dei (Downloadable) - file_4991-E *Downloadable choral octavo minimum order quantity is 6.
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More Information
SKU4991*
Composer/ArrangerFerko, Frank
Text AuthorHildegard von Bingen
Voicing & InstrumentsSATB
Liturgical YearEpiphany, General
PublisherE. C. Schirmer Music Company

The Hildegard Motets comprise a cycle of nine unaccompanied choral motets using texts by the 12th century abbess Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179). The texts were extracted from Hildegard's opus of more than seventy sacred poems titled Symphinia armonie celestium revelationum. Although these poems have been translated into English (more than once) and some of the translations are quite brilliant, I chose to set the original Latin texts as I felt they remained closer to Hildegard's own thoughts. The nine poems used in this cycle were selected according to their appropriateness to seasons in the Christian liturgical caldendar (thus, most of them can be sung in specific liturgical settings) and to their appropriateness to the structured plan of this cycle as well as for their sheer poetic beauty. Hildegard's poetic vocabulary was unusual and unique; she frequently used language that is not found in standard Latin liturgical texts. As with the music she composed, her poetry is highly ecstatic, vivid and rich in imagery.