Hildegard von Bingen was a remarkably well-known woman intellectual, mystic, scholar, administrator, political advisor and composer in the 12th century. In an age when few people who were not nobles or high-ranking clergy were known let alone written about, that we know this woman's name today is unusual—that she was able to accomplish so much in so many fields that we can verify over eight centuries later is astounding. Hildegard studied and wrote poetry, visions, and in several fields of medicine, science, and the study of the saints. Three hundred years ahead of her time, this medieval woman set the standard for what came to be called the "renaissance man.”

Born into a noble German family who committed her to the church, she entered a monastery at the age of 14. Originally instructed by her older cellmate Jutta and the monk-priest Volmar, Hildegard eventually took over her convent when Jutta died, eventually moving it to an independent location and financial status. She undertook four preaching tours of Germany which furthered her reputation to the point that she carried on lengthy correspondences with popes, emperors, and other church and political leaders.

Hildegard experienced visions from early in her childhood. Later, she was permitted to write them down, with the assistance of Volmar. Many of these texts became the sources for over 70 pieces of liturgical music which consisted of monophonic chant-like melodies. She also wrote the first morality play, Ordo virtutum, which included 82 different melodies. Both her texts and her music are highly vivid, imaginative and original. While there is no evidence that Hildegard herself learned to write music notation, the melodies themselves are thought to be her compositions. Their chant-like quality makes Hildegard’s music a wonderful example of medieval church music at its finest.

Ian D. Bent/rev. Marianne Pfau. “Hildegard of Bingen.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, https://www-oxfordmusiconline-com.pointloma.idm.oclc.org/search?q=hildegard+von+bingen&searchBtn=Search&isQuickSearch=true

 John Milsom. “Hildegard of Bingen.” Oxford Companion to Music. Oxford Music Online, https://www-oxfordreference-com.pointloma.idm.oclc.org/view/10.1093/acre...