April 07, 2023

Hildegard of Bingen and Isabella Leonarda

1 hour 11 minutes

As Christians around the world prepare for Easter, Donald Macleod explores the life and music of two nuns who were also composers. Though Hildegard of Bingen and Isabella Leonarda lived five centuries apart, their stories and music are connected by their shared faith and their shared vocations. Both lived cloistered lives, shut away in convents and cut off from the everyday concerns of the societies in which they lived. Yet, they also enjoyed a profoundly rich and human connection with the world and with their God, revealed in the music and poetry they created and sent into the world.

Music Featured:

Hildegard: Spiritus Sanctus Vivificans

Leonarda: Sonata, Op 16 No 8

Hildegard: Columba Aspexit

Hildegard (ed Wishart): O frondens virga

Hildegard: O virga ac diadema

Leonarda: Memento rerum

Leonarda: Volo Jesum, Op 3 No 4

Leonarda: Sonata, Op 16 No 3

Leonarda: O anima mea

Leonarda: Dixit dominus, Op 19

Hildegard: Ordo Virtutum (Prologue and Scene 1)

Hildegard: Antiphon, O quam mirabilis est

Leonarda: Purpurei Flores, Op 20

Leonarda: Magnificat Op 19

Leonarda: Sonata Op 16, No 12

Leonarda: Ave suavis dilectio, Op 6 No 5

Hildegard: O rubor sanguinis

Hildegard: O Ecclesia

Presented by Donald Macleod

Produced by Chris Taylor

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Hildegard of Bingen and Isabella Leonarda https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001kh9p

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

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By BBC Radio 3

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