Vision: The Life and Music of Hildegard Von Bingen

by Hildegard von Bingen, Barbara Newman, Matthew Fox

Superbly illustrated and beautifully packaged, this book/compact disc package tells the story of St. Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th-century abbess, mystic, healer, and early feminist, whose music is certain to appeal to those who enjoy the double platinum album Chant. 50 color illustrations.

Genres: History, Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Christian, Medieval

110 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1995

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

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an outstanding introduction to everything about the great Hildegard! Beautifully done with illuminations, photographs, and printed music.

I learned a lot and look forward to studying this extraordinary woman more in depth.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. My friend gifted me with the cd and this companion book for Christmas. It was interesting to learn pa out Hildegard and then the break down of her poetry and words. Gorgeous photos all throughout.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of the most poorly written and poorly structured non fiction biographical books I've ever read. It did not give you even an introduction to Hildegard so much as a not distinct list of events that happened near and around her. I have a very strong interest in the life of saints but this book was written in a way to convince me with 100 percent clarity that Hildegard von Bingen was exactly and only a severely mentally ill rich woman who got to throw hissy fits to get her way any time there was any amount of pushback of her absolutely crazy ramblings. Her wealth and status gave her the ability to become a saint instead of put in an institution of some sort. Tell me why this book states over and over again how well spoken and beautiful her prose were and yet the only prose they show us was absolutely unintelligible and mad? Why do they imply that she truly had visions of the future and of medical miracles when her visions are only knowledge that wr had in the 1200s and medically unsound? Don't write this whole book like she really was receiving messages from God when she was just a mad woman with enough wealth to be taken seriously. If she was really getting prophetic visions wouldn't they be correct? Also her strange visions were just odd. I have always liked Hildegard but this made me really not. Even beyond the actual content of the book, it was just structured so oddly that it was hard to understand. The manuscripts don't actually relate to Hildegard or the story being told. There's no real biographical information on her life besides where she was born and who her parent were. And the chapter structure was just cut up very oddly. I'm giving it 2 points because I like art history and the illuminated manuscripts are beautiful, even if they aren't related to the book in almost any way for the most part.

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeously illustrated book that is a perfect introduction to the life and thought of Hildegard of Bingen. In Physica, she described, with the bounds of medieval learning, her own understanding of the efficacy of herbs, the nature of animals and the healing properties of gemstones. (p17f)
In the Middle Ages it was commonly believed that one could make up for one's own shortcomings by drawing on the holiness of another; one could be virtuous by association. Hildegard therefore had many correpondents - one woman asked for the restoration of her fertility, others for her to look into the future and report back what she saw. (p23f)

In De operatione Dei, composed of ten visions, Hildegard describes in the first five the relation of man to nature: the influence of the winds and the planets on the welfare of human beings, the relation between the seasons of the year and the ages of man; an analogy between the seas and rivers and veins of the human body; the spiritual significance of the arrangement of the bodily organs. (p26f)

In a lengthy exegesis of the first chapter of John's gospel, she reminds us that the light of God (for her, "spark" or "fire" or "flame of God") came into the world to set its tent among us, (p44)

In a vision, the blood and water from the side of Christ crucified flows down into a cup held by a woman representing the church. Hildegard's painting of this vision celebrates the "happy betrothal" of Jesus and His church. The blood streaming into her cup is the Bride's dowry. (p56)

For Hildegard, the two witnesses of Revelation were Elijah and Enoch. (p59)

[Carolyn Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

A determined and remarkable woman.

In the first chapter of this short book, the author describes Hildegard’s commitment to her visions (both ecstatic and practical) and her ability to win allies and to overcome obstacles.

The second chapter provides us with beautiful colour plates of her illustrations, recreated after the original illuminated manuscripts were lost. The most beautiful and astonishing (for me) are a mandala titled ‘The Wheel of Life’, ‘The Mystical Body’ and ‘Extinguished Stars’ — an illustration of the fall of Lucifer.

The third chapter discusses Hildegard’s music, and includes many of the lyrics.

Originally this book was accompanied by a CD entitled ‘Vision’, produced by Angel Records. This was no longer with the book, but I found the complete album on Spotify and I was able to listen to the songs as I read the text.

[Heather Layne · Rating 3 out of 5]

She lived such a long time ago that I’m sure it was difficult to find a lot of detailed information, but... this was fairly dry. The Visions portion was interesting; the Music portion was a bit over my head, both with musical terminology and Latin grammar stuff. The Biography was brief and more of a list of events than a story.

[Laura Mullen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Obviously a talented artist and devout Catholic but this is a tough read. Overly facty and dry. Beautiful illustrations and poetry.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives an overview of Hildegard's life and works. The chapters are brief and filled with illustrations. Perfect for a gift or coffee table reading.

[Francois Cloutier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Une biographie de Hildegard Von Bingen qui est courte mais qui a le mérite d'aller à l'essentiel. Le livre contient également plusieurs représentations des visions de la sainte lesquelles sont accompagnées d'une brève description. Les thèmes abordés sont ceux de la Trinité, de la chute de Lucifer et d'Adam, du jugement dernier, etc. En refermant le livre, je ne peux que me demander si ces visions sont réelles ou si elles sont le produit d'un esprit souffrant de délires constants.

[Fanny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hildegard was a 12th century nun. She was also a composer, mystic, herbalist. A talented and mystical traveler, her story is nothing short of amazing. Listen to her compositions in the CD entitled 'Vision'. INCREDIBLE! A woman ahead of her time. Or rather, a woman who helped take the world to the next level of evolution as far as spirituality goes.

[Amanda Witt]

A good short read with the basic facts about Hildegard. There is a chapter with pictures of her visions and what they meant. The final chapter features her songs, with both the original Latin wording and English translations.