Flotation Device celebrates the feast day of Hildegard of Bingen with recent recordings of music by and about this celebrated and upstanding Medieval mystic, abbess and composer. We also explore the lurid poetry of Hildegard's far less upstanding contemporaries and compatriots: the Goliards, hearing their lyrics expressed through their original music (not Carl Orff's famous score) interpreted by the early music movement's most creative voices.
Plus we celebrate the 105th birthday of Isang Yun with a new album from BIS featuring the premiere recording of his last violin concerto—German modernism with Korean seasonings. An obscure solo project from the late Hardy Fox (of The Residents) lends a very different take on the Carmina Burana theme, while a look back at a classic Ligeti concerto (via our "50 years ago in the avant-garde" feature) and a look ahead to Alex Paxton's forthcoming album on Nonclassical round out the playlist.
Annotated playlist and photo credits in Comments.
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"O Vis Aeternitatis" by Hildegard von Bingen
"Tempus est iocundum, o virgines, modo congaudete, vos iuvenes." - Carmina Burana
Flotation Device 2022-09-18: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: The real Carmina Burana [0:00]
1. [2:26] Bache, bene venies (CB 200). From Carmina Burana (Medieval Poems and Songs) (Naxos, 2002) with Ensemble Unicorn, Ensemble Oni Wytars, Bernhard Landauer (countertenor), Eric Mentzel (tenor), Peter Rabanser (tenor traditional style), Michael Posch (recorder, director of Ensemble Unicorn), Marco Ambrosini (fiddle, director of Ensemble Oni Wytars), Thomas WImmer (fiddle), Riccardo Delfino (hurdy-gurdy), Peter Rabanser (bagpipe), Wolfgang Reithofer (tambourine), Katharina Dustmann (Landsknechtstrommel), chorus. NOTE: Recorded 1997
2. [8:21] Tempus transit gelidum (CB 153). From Carmina Burana Vol. 2 (Harmonia Mundi, 1975) with Clemencic Consort
3. [12:00] Tempus est iucundum (CB 179). From Medievo: Obras Maestras de la Música Medieval Española (Autor, 2001) with Artefactum
4. [15:51] Olim sudor Herculis (CB 63). From Secular Songs & Dances from the Middle Ages (Brilliant Classics, 2006) with Modo Antiquo, Bettina Hoffmann. NOTE: Recorded 1998
5. [17:27] Under der lindenan. From La Cité des Dames (Licanus, 2013) with Capella de Ministrers
6. [21:10] In Gedeonis ara (CB 37). From Carmina Burana Vol. 2 (Harmonia Mundi, 1975) with Clemencic Consort
7. [24:26] Gamblers Mass: Estampida de Rocamadour, Conduit des fous. From Love, Revelry and the Dance In Mediæval Music (Ricercar, 2012) with Millenarium, Chœur de Chambre de Namur, Psallentes, Chœur d'enfants de l'école de musique de Forbach. NOTE: Recorded 2005
8. [26:40] Ich was ein chint so wolgetan (CB 185). From Carmina Burana (L'Oiseau-Lyre/Decca, 1994) with New London Consort, Catherine Bott, Philip Pickett. NOTE: Recorded 1987⠀
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SET 2: Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) [30:01]
1. [32:33] Hildegard von Bingen: O vis aeternitatis (responsorium). From Canticles of Ecstasy (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, 1993) with Sequentia, Elizabeth Gaver, Elisabetta de Mircovich (medieval fiddles), Benjamin Bagby (medieval harp), Barbara Thornton (director)
2. [37:50] Hildegard von Bingen: O Vis Aeternitatis. From Hildegard von Bingen (MNW, 2001) with Garmarna: Emma Härdelin (vocals, violin), Gotte Ringqvist (guitar), Rickard Westman (guitar, EBow), Stefan Brisland-Ferner (sampler), Jens Höglin (drums)
3. [41:53] Laura Moody: Hildegard Portraits - Humility. From Hildegard Portraits (SOMM, 2022) with Voice: Victoria Couper, Clemmie Franks, Emily Burn, Adrian Hunter (recording engineer)
4. [43:53] Laura Moody: Hildegard Portraits - Sermon. From Hildegard Portraits (credits as above)
5. [44:49] Hugh Collins Rice: Sequentiae Hildegardenses VI - Quae est ista. From Sequences (Odradak, 2016) with Mediva: Yukie Sato (mezzo-soprano), Anna Danilevskaia (medieval and trecento fiddle), Corina Marti (recorder, clavisimbalum, percussion), Marie Bournisien (medieval harp), Ann Allen (director)
6. [50:02] Hugh Collins Rice: Sequentiae Hildegardenses III - Musica Diabolo. From Sequences (Odradak, 2016) with Mediva: Anna Miklashevich (soprano), Yukie Sato (mezzo-soprano), Anna Danilevskaia (medieval and trecento fiddle), Corina Marti (recorder, clavisimbalum, percussion), Silke Gwendolyn Schulze (recorder, shawm), Ann Allen (recorder, shawm, director)
7. [56:47] Outro with Hildegard of Bingen: O tu suavissima virga
8. [1:00:57] Alex Paxton: 5lolli-pop. From ilolli-pop (Nonclassical, 2022) with Alex Paxton (improvised trombone solo), Dreamusics⠀
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SET 3: Old and New [1:08:03]
1. [1:09:41] Procurans odium (CB 12). From Hieros (Fuga Libera, 2021) with Ensemble Céladon, Paulin Bündgen (direction)
2. [1:13:51] György Ligeti: Double Concerto for Flute and Oboe - 2. Allegro corrente. From Clear or Cloudy (Deutsche Grammophon, 2006) with Jacques Zoon (flute), Douglas Boyd (oboe), Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Claudio Abbado (conductor). NOTE: Composed 1972, premiered September 16, 1972, Berlin. This recording made in March 1995
3. [1:21:41] Isang Yun: Violin Concerto No. 3 (ending). From Three Late Works (BIS, 2022) with Sueye Park (violin), Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä (conductor), Jin Choi (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1992⠀
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SET 4: The thumb of Christ [1:32:31]
1. [1:36:14] The Residents (Hardy Fox): Pollex Christi. From The Residents perform N. Senada's 1937 Masterpiece Pollex Christi (Ralph, 1997). NOTE: See https://www.secondinversion.org/2018/11/14/theory-of-mashup-remembering-the-residents-hardy-fox-1945-2018/
2. [1:55:27] Outro with Clemencic Consort: Vacillantis trutine (CB 108)
Photo credits: Garmarna (Rickard Westman, Gotte Ringqvist, Emma Härdelin, Jens Höglin, Stefan Brisland-Ferner) by Sara Nordlöf, wheel of fortune and staffless music notation in Carmina Burana manuscript (Codex Buranus) via Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Isang Yun by Elke Nord, Voice (Victoria Couper, Clemmie Franks, Emily Burn) by Viktoria Kuti, Alex Paxton via the artist, Hildegard von Bingen from Rupertsberger Codex, Hugh Collins Rice by Tommaso Tuzj, Sequentia (Benjamin Bagby, Barbara Thornton, Elizabeth Gaver) via the artists, Hardy Fox in Theory of Obscurity: a film about The Residents.