Hildegard of Bingen and Isabella Leonarda

As Christians around the world prepare for Easter, Donald Macleod explores the life and music of two nuns who were also composers. Though Hildegard of Bingen and Isabella Leonarda lived five centuries apart, their stories and music are connected by their shared faith and their shared vocations. Both lived cloistered lives, shut away in convents and cut off from the everyday concerns of the societies in which they lived. Yet, they also enjoyed a profoundly rich and human connection with the world and with their God, revealed in the music and poetry they created and sent into the world.

Music Featured:

Hildegard: Spiritus Sanctus Vivificans Leonarda: Sonata, Op 16 No 8 Hildegard: Columba Aspexit Hildegard (ed Wishart): O frondens virga Hildegard: O virga ac diadema Leonarda: Memento rerum Leonarda: Volo Jesum, Op 3 No 4 Leonarda: Sonata, Op 16 No 3 Leonarda: O anima mea Leonarda: Dixit dominus, Op 19 Hildegard: Ordo Virtutum (Prologue and Scene 1) Hildegard: Antiphon, O quam mirabilis est Leonarda: Purpurei Flores, Op 20 Leonarda: Magnificat Op 19 Leonarda: Sonata Op 16, No 12 Leonarda: Ave suavis dilectio, Op 6 No 5 Hildegard: O rubor sanguinis Hildegard: O Ecclesia

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Chris Taylor For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Hildegard of Bingen and Isabella Leonarda https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001kh9p

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z