What does feminine approach to Medieval unison singing bring about, when singers are guided by a saint, mystic, musician, artist, poet and visionary, which Hildegard von Bingen was? St. Stanislav Girls’ Choir under the conductorship of Helena Fojkar Zupančič sang 5 of Hildegard’s songs at the concert which took place on 5th May 2022 in St. Joseph’s Church, Ljubljana. These were: Caritas Abundant /Love abounds/, O virtus Sapientiae /O Virtue of Wisdom/, De Spirito Sancto /To the Holy Spirit/, O Ignis Spiritus Paracliti /Sequence for the Holy Spirit/ and O Quam Mirabilis /Oh How Wonderful/. By doing so the choir gave rise to purity in a variety of senses: first and most importantly the purity of sound, which was clean, penetrating, yet soft. Next, there was the purity of gestures and dances – sophisticated and suggestive; never excluding and always inviting. Then there was the purity of words – all songs were sung in well-articulated Latin and finally, the most important one – the purity of message. The audience got the meaningful message across by listening to the message of love and joy. It seems they had it all in the 12th century. Above all there was no today’s redundancy of words, sounds, gestures or feelings.
Medieval mystique was musically connected with modern times through three Damijan Močnik’s pieces which were composed on the basis of Hildegarde’s lyrics and premiered at the concert. To wrap up the perfect image of a Medieval singing experience (mentored by Katarina Šter), the impeccable choreography (under supervision of Barbara Kanc) some Medieval instrumental music making (Una Košir on block flute, Urška Rihteršič on gothic harp, Tilen Udovič on fidel and Janez Jocif on tanpura, percussion, chimes) need to be mentioned. The long and loud applause suggested that the audience felt extremely thankful for a very special and long awaited evening of live singing by one of the best world choirs. What a spiritual and musical adventure! Thank you ladies! /Lily Schweiger Kotar/