Symphonia: A Critical Edition of the Symphonia Armonie Celestium Revelationum, Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations

by Hildegard von Bingen

For this revised edition of Hildegard's liturgical song cycle, Barbara Newman has redone her prose translations of the songs, updated the bibliography and discography, and made other minor changes. Also included is an essay by Marianne Richert Pfau which delineates the connection between music and text in the Symphonia.

Famous throughout Europe during her lifetime, Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was a composer and a poet, a writer on theological, scientific, and medical subjects, an abbess, and a visionary prophet. One of the very few female composers of the Middle Ages whose work has survived, Hildegard was neglected for centuries until her liturgical song cycle was rediscovered. Songs from it are now being performed regularly by early music groups, and more than twenty compact discs have been recorded.

Genres: Music, Theology, Poetry, Medieval, History, Spirituality, Nonfiction

344 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

born circa 1098

People revered Saint Hildegard von Bingen, German nun, composer, and a visionary, during her own lifetime; she set her poems to music and also wrote works on medicine and natural history.

People also knew this philosopher, Christian mystic, Benedictine abbess, and polymath as Sibyl of the Rhine. Her fellows elected her as a magistra in 1136; she founded the monasteries of Rupertsberg in 1150 and Eibingen in 1165. The Ordo Virtutum exemplifies early liturgical drama.

Her theological and botanical texts, letters, liturgical songs, and arguably the oldest morality play, well survive; she meanwhile supervised brilliant miniature Illuminations.

Reviews

[ajda · Rating 4 out of 5]

misnla sm da se bom takoj naveličala brat tolko bogoslužnih pesmi, ampak hildegarda z kdaj res nenavadnimi kombinacijami besed ustvarja take lepe mistične podobe ki kar ostanejo s tabo (odprla na naključni strani ampak npr "tedaj se volja vzpenja/in daje duši okus/in njena svetilka je hrepenenje" alpa ta njen koncept zelenine (viriditas) ki ga povsod upenja) priporočam če rabite malo meditacije v življenju

ps1: vse te pesmi je ona tud opremla z melodijo - in to pa morete poslušat ker je neki tako posebnega tud znotraj srednjeveške bogoslužne glasbe - še posebej dekliški zbor s škofijske klasične gimnazije sv. stanislava ma krasne izvedbe

ps2: brala nov prevod alena širce, ki je zdej enkrat izšel pri KUD Logos in še ni na goodreadsih. luškana izdaja, fajn spremna beseda, prevod večinoma dobesedn (ko pa ni je slab) kar meh ampak tuki služi svojemu namenu

[Keeley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful book, with Latin and English of Hildegard's highly idiosyncratic verse. My only quibble is with the two English versions given of every poem. The prose version is highly accurate and clear, but the translator privileges her poetic versions, which often gravely distort Hildegard's meaning.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficult to review, as I am not educated in music and don't understand a significant portion of the analysis. It fascinated me, made feel that I must look for more biographies, and performances of Hildegarde von Bingen's work, and introduced me to ideas of how someone can be creative and rebellious even in religious music.

That said, I really appreciate having the poetry in latin, translated, as well as translated prose. For my own spiritual purposes, I find a lot of value here.

[Rex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hildegard's verses are beautiful, at times stunning in their imagistic vividness and theological depth, and the notes are helpful. My one complaint about this critical edition is that Newman's loose rendering is placed opposite the Latin text, while the literal translation is set apart below. This makes checking the Latin (at least for those of us whose Latin is rusty) a nuisance. And although Newman's paraphrase is not unappealing in itself, I'm not sure what it adds to one's appreciation of Hildegard. Still, I'm glad I got around to reading through this.

[Michael J. Flynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not qualified to comment on the quality of the poetry translations but as an overview of the work of Hildegard von Bingen this is an interesting entry point into the unique musical work of a fully realized being.

[John Peel · Rating 3 out of 5]

St. Hildegard has become more popular thanks to recordings made of her music (especially "Feather on the Breath of God"). This is a collection of all of her lyrics, with notes. It's obviously a scholarly work, but quite readable nevertheless.

[Aaron Crofut · Rating 3 out of 5]

The introduction is worth the price, as are the Latin texts. Ignore the translations. A fascinating woman, though; I would like to find her other works now! Beautiful, rapturous music.

[Clara Martin]

Medieval hyperpop radio show last night called Hildegard Von Dutch / Hildegardi XCX inspired by this book

[cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can just read her deep affection for women, it makes me so sad that she lived in such a misogynistic time. I think she would've loved Shania Twain.

[Victoria Gaile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another lovely book of poetry by a saint who is not as well known as she should be. Barbara Newman, the translator, presents Hildegard's Latin text on one page and splendidly provides two English translations: a "frankly and blithely interpretive" verse translation on the facing page, and a literal prose translation in a footnote at the end of each piece.

Her introduction discusses some of the difficulty facing a translator of poetry and of the Symphonia in particular, and explains some of her choices:

Medieval poetry in general favored hyperbole, and Hildegard in particular was no advocate of the via negativa. Her way of approaching the ineffable was to make the strongest positive statement her tongue could express. Modern English, on the other hand, is a language of understatement, and in free verse it is almost a truism that less is more. So, in order to convey the rapt intensity of Hildegard's praise, I have actually had to tone down some of her expressions.(62)

We have some of Hildegard's music, as well as her texts. I found both CDs and MP3s available for sale at Amazon -- and in my very first venture into this modern world of buying and downloading music, I was able to purchase a single track, O Ignis Spiritus (O Fiery Spirit), to play at class tonight while I read the English verse translation to begin my class presentation on ecological pneumatology.

[Nathaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The critical text is highly useful, but the analysis is, as usual, hit or miss.