Anonymous 4 – The Origin of Fire: Music and Visions of Hildegard von Bing (2005) [SACD / Harmonia Mundi – HMU 807327]

Title: Anonymous 4 – The Origin of Fire: Music and Visions of Hildegard von Bing (2005)
Genre: Classical
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Anonymous 4’s The Origin of Fire: Music and Visions of Hildegard von Bingen (2005, Harmonia Mundi) is their final SACD, marking the end of their 18-year career in 2004. Focusing on 12th-century mystic Hildegard of Bingen, the album explores the Pentecostal theme of the “Fiery Spirit” through her emotional chants, including the hymn O ignee spiritus and key antiphons. The program contextualizes Hildegard’s works with hymns and sequences her convent sisters sang daily, enhancing historical authenticity. Unlike their earlier 11,000 Virgins (1997), this collection sets Hildegard’s text-only visions to medieval recitation tones, a novel approach for recorded psalm tones. Anonymous 4’s four female voices—Marsha Genensky, Susan Hellauer, Johanna Maria Rose, and Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek—deliver pure, resonant performances, though some critique the vibrato-heavy style compared to earlier recordings. The SACD’s high-resolution stereo and surround sound, captured in a resonant church acoustic, amplify the ethereal quality of the monophonic chants. The 64-minute album, with 17 tracks, balances Hildegard’s soaring melodies and the grounding liturgical framework. Detailed liner notes by Susan Hellauer provide scholarly insight into the selections and context. This release, a fitting capstone to Anonymous 4’s legacy, appeals to early music enthusiasts and those drawn to Hildegard’s mystical vision. It stands out for its innovative integration of vision texts and liturgical settings, cementing the group’s impact on medieval music revival.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

Tracklist:

01. Hymn: Veni creator spiritus
02. Sequence: Veni spiritus eternorum alme
03. Antiphon: O quam mirabilis est
04. Vision 1: The fire of creation (prologue)
05. Vision 1: The fire of creation
06. Sequence: O ignis spiritus paracliti
07. Vision 2: Wisdom and her sisters (prologue)
08. Vision 2: Wisdom and her sisters
09. Responsory: O felix anima
10. Vision 3: The fiery spirit (prologue)
11. Vision 3: The fiery spirit
12. Hymn: O ignee spiritus
13. Vision 4: Love (prologue)
14. Vision 4: Love
15. Antiphon: Caritas habundat in omnia
16. Antiphon: O eterne deus
17. Hymn: Beata nobis gaudia

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