I SHALL REMEMBER THE 5TH OF NOVEMBER
BREMF 2011 Event 22
The Telling: Vision
The Imagined Testimony of Hildegard von Bingen
Thanks to my old schoolmate "Harold," Hildegard was the first contact I had with really early music. Over 25 years ago we used to meet up a couple of times a year, have a family meal, go for a country walk, chew over various cuds and show off our latest musical discoveries - anything from Philip Glass and Steve Reich to Diamanda Galas and Laurie Anderson on my part - from Vaughan Williams and Gerald Finzi to Palestrina and Hildegard on Harold's.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdVcKfAZJMU
One weekend, at his home in Aldershot, Harold suggsested I take a listen to Emma Kirkby singing on the 'Feather on The Breath of God' CD. I was instantly drawn in and spent several following months seeking out similar music which was pretty thin on the ground in those days - even on the record shop shelves.
It was particularly with this in mind that I felt drawn to volunteer with BREMF this year, and I was pleasantly surprised to find the multi-media presentation 'Vision' on the festival agenda. The programme notes don't actually ue the phrase 'multi-media' [perhaps it's not a cool term nowadays] but essentially this is what the show is with its use of music, narration, lighting and dance - it only needs the inclusion of film and performance art to go the whole hog to become The Exploding Plastic Inevitable.
The Play 'Vision' is written and produced by Clare Norburn, who is part of The Telling and Musical Director of The Brighton Early Music Festival. This production is pretty enjoyable and totally original. I did wonder during the first third of the performance whether we had been sold a dummy. I felt at this point the story relied perhaps too heavily on the narration and some repeated 'meaningful' walking the length of the venue by a couple of the singers.
I thought the visions experienced by the infant Hildegard would have been better illustrated by some proper acting or dance - even some sort of sonne et lumier. But then the plot hotted up a bit from thereon and the final quarter positively sparkled - it literally shone.
The singing by Clare Norburn and Yvonne Eddy and instrumental work from Joy Smith [harp] and Layil Barr [recorder] were utterly beautiful. Nuno Silva's modern dance performance, leading Hildegard to her appointment with her Saviour was both moving and magical. The lighting effects, which utilised the setting of St Bartholemews Church to its utmost were simple but very, very effective and the haunting voice of Patience Tomlinson as the voice of the dying Hildegard was perfect.
I'm not sure whether there are plans to take this show on the road or not, but I would venture to suggest that if it were to be toured in its present form it would be a moderate success in a niche market but with some of the kinds of modifications suggested above it could be a crossover hit in a much wider market that could raise the profile of not only Hildegard but that of Early Music in general.
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