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In medieval heaven, like society on earth as theorists tells us, followed strict principles of decorum and order. After God the Father, Christ the king and Mary the Queen came the ranks of the blessed, all in their proper stations: first the nine orders of angels, then the saints (patriarchs and prophets, apostles, martyrs and confessors) and in the end widows and innocents. This program describes the celestial hierarchy according to Hildegard von Bingen's universe using only two instruments - the voice and the baltic string instrument kantele. |
| It starts with the angels
in the two songs Lux vivens Angeli(Antiphon) and O vos Angeli
(responsorium). These songs with their exceptional range (far more than
two octaves) show the vast space in the medieval angel world. Angels are
ranked in the celestial hierarchy of Nine Orders: Seraphims, Cherubims,
Thrones, Domination's, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels and
Angels (regular). The Seraphims are the highest order or choir of angels,
and guard God's throne. They have six wings, two cover their faces, two
cover their feet, and two are for flying. Cherubims rank after the Seraphims
and are manlike in appearance
and double winged and were guardians of God's glory. In the New Testament
Principalities refers to one type of
spiritual (metaphysical) beings, which are now quite hostile to God and
human beings. Along with the Principalities are Thrones,Powers, Dominions
and Virtues. Archangels are generally taken to mean "chief or leading angel".
They are the most frequently mentioned throughout
the Bible. They have a unique role as God's messenger to the people at
critical times in history and salvation as in The
Annunciation and Apocalypse. The Archangel Gabriel is the most well-known.
Allegorically the lower ranks, who deal most often
with human beings, represent body and soul; the Cherubim and Seraphim,
closest to the ineffable light, signify the knowledge and
love of God, and the five orders in between correspond to the five senses
and the five wounds of Christ.
The next two songs O spectabiles viri (Antiphon) and O vos felices radices (responsorium) are written for the Patriarchs and Prophets. The Prophets are seen not in their Hebrew context but as witnesses to the Incarnation, percieving Christ dimly through the half light of Jewish revelation. The following songs are O lucidissima apostolorum turba (Antiphon) and O speculum columbe (responsorium) to celebrate the Apostles, the second one marked as a responsory all -- though it is not. There are wild songs with many changes of modus frequently when it celebrates the apostolic band in counterpoint with the feminine figure Ecclesia, the Church. The celebration of the Apostles continue with O Speculum columbe (Antiphon) and O dulcis electe (responsorium) for Saint John, the evangelist who enjoyed a special place among the apostles because, although never martyred, he preserves lifelong virginity. "The blood of Martyrs is seed of the Church" can be heard in the song O victoriosissimi triumphatores (Antiphon) who ends with a motive, that the blood and martyrs is an ornament in heaven, as can be heard in Hildegards many songs about Saint Ursula. The second song for the Martyrs is Vos Flores rosarum(responsorium) were the martyrs, first envisioned as blood red flowers, now are likened to swimmers in the ocean of their own wounds, which is in turn subsumed into the bleeding heart of the Eternal. The concert ends with O vos imitatores (Antiphon) for the confessors, and here we go back to the angels again. The confessors imitate Christ in his double role as Lion and Lamb, victor and victim, linked with the angels, evidently those of the lowest order, who are assigned to praise God and watch over all nations.Thus the circle is concluded from the highest to the lowest level of angels in this hour of the celestial hierarchy. |
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