The Origin of Fire: Music and Visions of Hildegard von Bingen

1	Veni creator spiritus
2	Veni spiritus eternorum a
3	O quam mirabilis, antipho
4	Hildegard von Bingen Visi
5	Hildegard von Bingen Visi
6	O ignis spiritus Paraclit
7	Hildegard von Bingen Visi
8	Hildegard von Bingen Visi
9	O felix anima, response f
10	Hildegard von Bingen Visi
11	Hildegard von Bingen Visi
12	O Ignis Spiritus, hymn
13	Hildegard von Bingen Visi
14	Hildegard von Bingen Visi
15	Karitas habundat (Caritas
16	O eterne Deus, antiphon
17	Beata nobis gaudia, hymn
The Origin of Fire: Music and Visions of Hildegard von Bingen
1.	Veni creator spiritus 4:31
	Composed by Gregorian Chant
	Performed by Anonymous 4
2.	Veni spiritus eternorum alme, sequence (11th century) 2:42
	Composed by Anonymous, Swiss
	Performed by Anonymous 4
3.	O quam mirabilis, antiphon 3:31
	Composed by Hildegard von Bingen
	Performed by Anonymous 4
4.	Hildegard von Bingen Vision 1: The fire of creation: Et ego homo non calens, plainsong on a 4D reciting 1:45
	Composed by Anonymous 4
	Performed by Anonymous 4
5.	Hildegard von Bingen Vision 1: The fire of creation: Et audivi ex prefato vivente igne, texting of a 2- 3:11
	Composed by Anonymous 4
	Performed by Anonymous 4
6.	O ignis spiritus Paraclitus, sequence 7:52
	Composed by Hildegard von Bingen
	Performed by Anonymous 4
7.	Hildegard von Bingen Vision 2: Wisdeom and her sisters 5:34
	Composed by Anonymous 4
	Performed by Anonymous 4
8.	O felix anima, response for St Disibod 6:40
	Composed by Hildegard von Bingen
	Performed by Anonymous 4
9.	Hildegard von Bingen Vision 3: The fiery spirit 6:59
	Composed by Anonymous 4
	Performed by Anonymous 4
10.	O Ignee Spiritus, hymn 10:06
	Composed by Hildegard von Bingen
	Performed by Anonymous 4
11.	Hildegard von Bingen Vision 4: Love 5:28
	Composed by Anonymous 4
	Performed by Anonymous 4
12.	Karitas habundat (Caritas abundat), antiphon 2:18
	Composed by Hildegard von Bingen
	Performed by Anonymous 4
13.	O eterne Deus, antiphon 2:34
	Composed by Hildegard von Bingen
	Performed by Anonymous 4
14.	Beata nobis gaudia, hymn 2:47
	Composed by Gregorian Chant
	Performed by Anonymous 4

Barnes & Noble

Who could have predicted that one of the great recent success stories in classical music would be a 12th-century German abbess? Her fascinating life story is surely one factor in the Hildegard von Bingen revival -- she became quite a celebrity in her own day, thanks to her mystical visions and spiritual wisdom -- but her music also stands on its own as a rare and beautiful monument of medieval culture. No less important, modern ensembles like Anonymous 4 have proven its power to speak directly to today's audiences. This vocal quartet had a great success with their first Hildegard album, 11,000 Virgins, and have returned to her work for what may be their final recording. (After 18 years together, the much-acclaimed group announced a hiatus in 2004.) The Origin of Fire delivers more of the classic Anonymous 4 sound: perfectly blended voices, soaring in deceptively simple arcs of ecstatic melody. From Hildegard's works, they have mostly selected hymns and other chants in praise of the Holy Spirit, a topic that provoked the author to recurrent visions of fire, a force both of life and destruction. Longer compositions such as "O ignis spiritus paracliti" and "O ignee spiritus" effectively show Hildegard's genius at sustaining an absorbing current of music with nothing more than unaccompanied unison voices, and Anonymous 4 perform it all with a seemingly effortless grace. The ensemble also includes excerpts from Hildegard's visionary prose texts -- set not to her music but to other chant melodies of the era. This provides some variety (as the unison voices sometimes break into polyphony), but it also enhances our understanding of the inspiration behind Hildegard's music. Whether or not this is Anonymous 4's final album, it maintains the same note of high artistic integrity that has distinguished their work for nearly two decades. Scott Paulin

All Music Guide

After 18 years spent together on the road and in the recording studio, Anonymous 4 decided to call it a day at the end of its 2004 touring season. Sad news for the early music world to be sure, but Anonymous 4 has decided to go out with a bang rather than a whimper, producing as its last scheduled Harmonia Mundi album a second collection of Hildegard von Bingen to go with the group's great first collection, 11,000 Virgins. The Origin of Fire: Music and Visions of Hildegard von Bingen differs from other offerings of a similar kind in that Anonymous 4 develops a context for Hildegard's material, combining it with music that Hildegard and her nuns would have sung with regularity. In addition, Anonymous 4 has set to music, apparently for the first time, some of Hildegard's text-only "visions" by utilizing recitation tones found in medieval sources. One usually finds such music without words, as they are designed to be adaptable for a number of texts within a certain portion of the liturgy -- it is nice that Anonymous 4 has located something to hang onto them so that we may hear these psalm tones in recorded form.

The booklet for this release is especially nice, liberally illustrated with Hildegard's visual art and drawings of herbs from medieval books. Susan Hellauer's notes are succinct, elegant, and lay out the concept behind the program in the most comprehensive manner possible without being wordy or obscure. Full texts and translations into four languages are included in a handsome 72-page booklet. The performance of the pieces is, as usual, sublime, with the longer Hildegard works, such as the Responsory "O felix anima" and her extensive hymn-setting "O ignee spiritus," being particularly worthy of comment.

The Origin of Fire does not altogether spell the end to Anonymous 4's journey, as the members have agreed to regroup as needed for special projects. As a closer to what has been a stunning career, influencing the entire early music world, one could hardly wish for a better consummation of Anonymous 4's collective talents than this. Uncle Dave Lewis

Gramophone

Anonymous 4, with their smooth and restrained unison singing, are in many ways ideal interpreters [of Hildegard's music]; their careful avoidance of over-emphasizing the composer's outpourings marks this performance. Mary Berry