Mediva & Hugh Collins Rice - Hildegard: Sequences (2016)

Hildegard von Bingen has the magical ability to reach out and speak to us across the centuries. An avant-garde visionary of her day, the depth and range of her music lends itself to modern re-imaginings.
Sequentiae Hildegardenses was written over a period of 12 years in a special collaboration between the composer Hugh Collins Rice and the medieval ensemble Mediva. Collins Rice, who has often been drawn to the ideas and techniques of early music, was inspired by Mediva s medieval instruments and developed a musical language for Sequentiae Hildegardenses which remains authentic and expressive in a 21st-century context, whilst also illuminating the 12th-century music of Hildegard. His music references the serene world of Hildegard's own compositions, but also reflects the darker strands in her writings.
Mediva s instruments, which provide a palette of timbres unavailable on modern instruments, fascinated Collins Rice with their range of sonorities. As he puts it, the earthy expressiveness of shawms is a sound completely different from any of its modern successors. The small medieval harp has a very subtle range of colour, and the medieval fiddle has a naturally soft veiled tone. Together with recorders, a blended ensemble is achievable which sounds fresh and new .
Mediva s credo is to bring passion and life to music of the past. Featuring an international line-up of virtuoso performers educated at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Mediva has been a spontaneous, imaginative and successful group for over ten years, performing a range of music from the 12th to 15th centuries. Mediva s concerts are full of energy, passion and joie de vivre, and the group has appeared in many of the major music festivals in the UK and on the continent.