The music of Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) has been subjected to all kinds of elaborate interpretation, with backing tracks, invented instrumental accompaniments and any number of voices singing her single line of chant. The Augsburg Early Music Ensemble, recorded as far as one can decipher in 1997, keep it agreeably simple. The CD notes give little explanation as to how decisions were made, but gothic harp, psaltery, recorder and fiddle are played as interludes, all performed by the four singers (three male, one female). Apart from a barely audible drone, this is Hildegard unadorned. Sabine Lutzenberger, limpid and pure, sings some of the most characteristic of the antiphons including O viridissima virga and O lucidissima Apostolorum turba. The disc is short (53 mins) and texts are only in Latin and German, but mood and musicality are convincing.
