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Hildegard: Order of the Virtues Act III

3,186 views · Published 16 April 2015 · 31:37 · Indexed 10 November 2026

Channel: New England Conservatory · 2015 · Music

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For its 50th Anniversary, NEC's seminal Contemporary Improvisation (CI) program has been renamed Contemporary Musical Arts (CMA). For more information about the CMA program at NEC, please visit: https://necmusic.edu/contemporary-musical-arts

February 17, 2015, Contemporary Improvisation students, faculty, and special guests presented a concert of struggle and redemption in true Third Stream style, through a reinterpretation of Hildegard von Bingen’s 12th-century drama Ordo Virtutum (Order of the Virtues).

Drawing on the original score and text, as well as works by Duke Ellington, the Carter Family, and from Sufi zikr and folk traditions from around the world, they told the story of Anima, lost soul of all humanity, who struggles on the brink of damnation as she is courted by the Devil. In her greatest hour of need, she calls out to the Virtues, who sail in and bind the Devil hand and foot.

Recognized as the earliest extant liturgical morality play, the Ordo Virtutum was originally written for and performed by a chorus of 16 women, all members of the cloister established by Hildegard near Bingen on the Rhine. Its emotional imagery is vibrant and timeless, connecting poignantly with modern existence and our own battles between good and evil, expressed tonight through the powerful story of the Virtues.
Recorded live in Jordan Hall, Boston.

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