September 16 - Hildegard von Bingen (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for September 16th are here: Hildegard von Bingen (2019), Charlie Byrd (2020), Nadia Boulanger (2021), Nick Jonas; Hildegard von Bingen (2022), and Hildegard von Bingen (2023)

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Hildegard von Bingen (1098 – 17 September 1179) was one of the most accomplished minds of the Middle Ages, distinguishing herself in a number of fields. We do not know when she was born, but September 16 is cited occasionally, although it is unclear on what evidence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mysticism for All?

 

In the early 1990s, recordings of her work suddenly hit the pop charts, a time when medieval chant, new age music and meditative practices were enjoying a boom. -- Brian Wise,@ www.wqxr.org/story/97514-hildegards-striking-music-comes-to-life-vision

Medieval scholars still regard

The sacred chants of Hildegard

As music up there with the best

Produced in the medieval West.

And scholarship, (there is a ton)

On Hildegard, the Bingen nun,

Has opened up to everyone

The beauties of medieval chant, —

Though purists have averred this can’t

Be done without the grim result

Of morphing to a New Age cult.

 

 

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September 6 - Isabella Leonarda (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for September 6th are here: Manfred Gurlitt; Sylvester (2019), Anton Diabelli (2020), Georg Christoph Bach (2021), Anton Diabelli; Isabella Leonarda (2022), and Henry Diltz (2023)

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Isabella Leonarda (6 September 1620 – 25 February 1704) was an Italian composer and Ursuline nun. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Practice Rumination

Isabella Leonarda, who was Ursuline,

  Resided in a convent all her days.

Which meant she had a place to hold rehearsal in,

  With a minimum of hassles and delays.

Rehearsing the motets that she had written,

   She found it was a perk that can’t be priced

To have a spacious choir loft to sit it

   While singing with her fellow brides of Christ.

 

 

 

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November 13 - Whoopi Goldberg (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Whoopi Goldberg (b. 13 November 1955) is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.

[For last year's entries for Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow and George Whitefield Chadwick click here.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My God!

How easily things can be done

On the run in disguise as a nun!

Just sing sacred covers

Of songs about lovers

And (Goodness!) religion is fun!

 

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I Will Follow Him/Her/Them

The choir had given up hope

At the foot of a slippery slope.

But Whoopi, (God bless!),

Was such a success

That the nuns sang a song for the Pope.

 

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Wish Fulfillment 

There isn’t much by way of facts

In either of those Sister Acts,

But though they’re rife with contradictions,

What’s the harm in pleasant fictions?

No one should be judging you

For loving either One or Two,

And if you have some time to spare,

Go ahead and binge the pair!

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]

 

 

 

September 16 - Hildegard von Bingen (The Musical Birthday Series)

Hildegard von Bingen (1098 – 17 September 1179) was one of the most accomplished minds of the Middle Ages, distinguishing herself in a number of fields. We do not know when she was born, but September 16 is cited occasionally, although it is unclear on what evidence.

Holy Roller

St. Hildegard's holiest miracle?
To make herself totally spherical
And bounce like a ball
Down the long abbey hall
Singing chants that were blesséd and lyrical.

Variatio I

Von Bingen went into a trance

On the chance she'd be given new chants.

But there in the nunnery

They frowned on such punnery,

Which she should have been told in advance.

Variatio II

Von Bingen fell into a trance

As she led a liturgical dance.

When she caused a kerfuffle

By doing a shuffle,

She averred she had learned it in France.

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