21st Century Mediaeval Hymns; Kevin Keller-The Echoes Podcast

In the Echoes Podcast, we go to the monastery when Kevin Keller talks about his album, Evensong. It’s partly based on the chants and hymns of 12th century Abbess Hildegard von Bingen.

You might recall the chant craze of the 1990s when The Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo singing gothic hymns were topping the charts, and artists like Enigma were adapting chants into their music. But rising above them all were the 12th century compositions of Abbess Hildegard von Bingen. Her music was recreated by artists like Gothic Voices, Sequentia and Anonymous 4 and adapted for 20th century ears by Richard Souther, Vox, and David Lynch with Jocelyn Montgomery. Now composer Kevin Keller has created his own beautiful renderings of her music on the album Evensong, a CD of the Month in November.

Today we might call Hildegard a polymath. She was a writer, philosopher, mystic, and medical practitioner. But she is best known for her music: heavenly plainchant hymns that call to the heavens in the most sensual way. Many of these came to her in visions, and that’s how Kevin Keller’s album, Evensong arrived.

Kevin Keller: At the risk of sounding a little too mystical, this album did sort of come to me in a vision. It arrived fully formed in my brain two years ago in October of 21. And just in like the space of a couple of hours, I had the album title, the concept, and I knew right from the beginning that it was going to involve songs by Hildegard of Bingen and that there would be eight songs.

We talk to Kevin Keller about bringing these gothic sounds into the 21st century.

Hear it tonight or Right Now at Echoes On-Line.

Sequentia – O Virdissima Virga, Ave – Canticles of Ecstasy