Troubadours frequently composed songs on the theme of faithful men loving aloof, unattainable women. History records many trobairitz active in the 12 th and 13 th centuries, composing courtly secular songs in the Occitan language of Provence and northern Spain. late 12 th/early 13 th century) was a trobairitz: a woman troubadour. “Love abounds in all, from the depths exalted and excelling over every star, and most beloved of all, for to the highest King she gave the kiss of peace.” Hildegard’s antiphon Caritas habundat in omnia is a beautiful example of her brilliance as a composer and a poet: They are also sensitively idiomatic to the female voice. Remarkably, and unlike nearly every medieval Catholic composer, her compositions are wholly original, not based on existing plainchant. The collection of Hildegard’s compositions is known as her Symphonia armonie celestium revelationum. The above portrait of Hildegard comes from her hypnotically beautiful mystical work, Scivias. Hildegard’s own scholarship was vast: she wrote about medicine and natural history, corresponded with popes and emperors, and embarked on public tours as a preacher. Like Kassia, Hildegard founded her own convent: the cloistered life was often a refuge for women intellectuals in the Middle Ages, offering the opportunity to pursue scholarship and the arts. ![]() Hildegard was a visionary, theologian, poet and composer. The eleventh-century German polymath Hildegard (1098-1179) was one of the great minds of the Middle Ages. Kassia’s work has been championed by the Portland choir Capella Romana, and its director Alexander Lingas. Kassia holds a scroll of this hymn in the ikon pictured above. It remains an integral part of worship on the evening of Holy Tuesday in the Byzantine rite. Her hymn on the penitence of Mary Magdalene, Kyrie hē en pollais, is also known simply as the Hymn of St. Kassia composed hymns which are remarkable for their expressive melding of music and text. Despite being punished with whipping, she stood by her beliefs, supporting other persecuted clerics, and writing, “I hate silence when it is time to speak.” Kassia remained a force to be reckoned with throughout her career, for example, defending the traditional use of ikons in Byzantine worship when the Emperor sought to stamp out the practice. Theophilos opted for a less assertive bride, and Kassia became the founder and abbess of a convent in Constantinople, where she wrote, taught, and composed. Instead of responding submissively, Kassia replied, “And through a woman came the better things.” referring to the pivotal role of the Virgin Mary. According to legend, she was offered as a potential bride for Emperor Theophilos, who challenged her with the statement, “Through a woman came forth the baser things,” referring to the biblical sin of Eve in the Garden of Eden. ![]() 810, died by 867) was a highly educated Byzantine noblewoman. Kassia (or Kassianē) the Hymnographer (born c.
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