Hildegard Portraits Voice

• Hildegard von Bingen (1098 - 1179): O clarissima mater (Arr. S. Wishart & Voice for 3 Voices):
• 1 Bingen: O clarissima mater (Arr. S. Wishart & Voice for 3 Voices) 08:46
• Ivan Moody (b. 1980): O quam mirabilis:
• 2 Moody: O quam mirabilis 03:49
• Laura Moody: Hildegard Portraits:
• 3 Moody: Hildegard Portraits: Humility 02:01
• 4 Moody: Hildegard Portraits: Universe as Body 01:19
• Tim Lea Young: Three Wings, Pt. 1:
• 5 Young: Three Wings, Pt. 1: In una via (Version for 3 Voices) 03:30
• Hildegard von Bingen: O virtus sapientie (Arr. S. Wishart & Voice for 3 Voices):
• 6 Bingen: O virtus sapientie (Arr. S. Wishart & Voice for 3 Voices) 02:21
• Marcus Davidson: Musical Harmony:
• 7 Davidson: Musical Harmony 03:16
• Stevie Wishart (b. 1959): Aseruz trium vocum (After H. von Bingen) [Arr. Voice for 3 Voices]:
• 8 Wishart: Aseruz trium vocum (After H. von Bingen) [Arr. Voice for 3 Voices] 05:16
• Laura Moody: Hildegard Portraits:
• 9 Moody: Hildegard Portraits: Sermon 00:56
• 10 Moody: Hildegard Portraits: Sing 01:50
• Hildegard von Bingen: O mirum admirandum (Arr. S. Wishart & Voice for Voice):
• 11 Bingen: O mirum admirandum (Arr. S. Wishart & Voice for Voice) 02:30
• Stevie Wishart: O choruscans lux (After H. von Bingen) [Version for Choir]:
• 12 Wishart: O choruscans lux (After H. von Bingen) [Version for Choir] 04:33
• Hildegard von Bingen: O orzchis ecclesia (Arr. S. Wishart & Voice for 3 Voices):
• 13 Bingen: O orzchis ecclesia (Arr. S. Wishart & Voice for 3 Voices) 02:07
• Marcus Davidson: O Boundless Ecclesia:
• 14 Davidson: O Boundless Ecclesia 04:19
• Laura Moody: Hildegard Portraits:
• 15 Moody: Hildegard Portraits: O Woman 00:37
• 16 Moody: Hildegard Portraits: Love 01:35
• Emily Levy: How Sweetly You Burn:
• 17 Levy: How Sweetly You Burn 07:16
• Hildegard von Bingen: Unde quocumque venientes (Arr. S. Wishart & Voice for 3 Voices):
• 18 Bingen: Unde quocumque venientes (Arr. S. Wishart & Voice for 3 Voices) 02:13
• Laura Moody: Hildegard Portraits:
• 19 Moody: Hildegard Portraits: The Living Light 05:45
• Hildegard von Bingen: Nunc gaudeant (Arr. S. Wishart & Voice for 3 Voices):
• 20 Bingen: Nunc gaudeant (Arr. S. Wishart & Voice for 3 Voices) 03:22
• Total Runtime 01:07:21

Info for Hildegard Portraits

SOMM Recordings announces the exciting label debut of Voice with Hildegard Portraits, marking the tenth anniversary of the canonisation of the 12th-century spiritual leader, theologian, mystic, scientist and composer, St. Hildegard of Bingen.

Hailed by Gramophone as inheritors of “the slot left by the dissolution of Anonymous 4”, Voice – Emily Burn, Victoria Couper and Clemmie Franks – formed in 2006. Singing together since their early teens in the Oxford Girls’ Choir, and as members of Stevie Wishart’s Sinfonye, they have toured throughout the UK, USA and Europe.

Hildegard Portraits draws on close relationships between Voice and the featured composers. It takes its title from the first recording of Laura Moody’s seven-part setting of Hildegard’s letters forming a portrait, Moody says, of “not so much a saint, seer or symbol, but a woman who lived and loved”.

Their collaboration with “friend and mentor” Stevie Wishart continues with first recordings of Aseruz trium vocum and O choruscans lux (choir version), responses to what Voice describe as “the soaring, melismatic lines, the flourishes and ornamentation, and mesmerising unison sound” of St. Hildegard’s own music, heard to sublime effect in six pieces, including O clarissima mater, O virtus sapientie and Nunc gaudeant.

Other exclusive/first recordings include Marcus Davidson’s Musical Harmony and O Boundless Ecclesia, Emily Levy’s compelling blend of folk-inspired melody and Hildegardian ornamentation, How Sweetly You Burn, and Tim Lea Young’s Three Wings: pt.1 (all composed, like Moody’s title work, for Voice).

Ivan Moody’s O quam mirabilis exquisitely sets Hildegard’s own text “expressing to perfection awe at the mystery of the Creator God”.

Voice has self-released two albums – Musical Harmony (2013) and Patterns of Love (2015). Collaborative releases include I Have Set My Hert So Hy with Dufay Collective (2015), and Janáček’s The Diary of One Who Disappeared; Moravian Folksongs; Říkadla with Julius Drake and Nicky Spence (2019).

Voice:
Emily Burn, vocals Victoria Couper, vocals Clemmie Franks, vocals

Voice
is an exciting, female vocal trio. In their fifteen years together, they have built a dedicated fan-base across the world; a rich, varied repertoire of their own arrangements, new commissions, and rarely performed Early Music; and they have honed a truly unique sound. Victoria, Clemmie, and Emily first began singing together in Oxford as members of the Oxford Girls’ Choir, before going on to form the trio in 2006 as well as forging their own successful, diverse careers. They draw on their individual musical interests and experiences to create thrilling timbres and a blend that has been described as ‘one voice’.

As collaborators with composers, musicians, artists, and poets, Voice has devised and commissioned a number of sought-after projects, many of which bring together Early and Contemporary music in the same programme. The trio has performed across the UK, Europe, and the USA and has received funding from Arts Council England, Performing Rights Society Foundation, and the British Council.

Clemmie, Emily, and Victoria’s interest in Early Music can be traced back to their performances and recordings of the medieval chant of Hildegard of Bingen, which they learned as members of Stevie Wishart’s group, Sinfonye. The singers still perform with Sinfonye today and as a trio, Voice continues to perform Hildegard’s music and have commissioned new works inspired by her words and chant.

Voice collaborated with the Dufay Collective, directed by William Lyons, at Dartington International Festival (2013), on the English Medieval album I Have Set My Hert So Hy (released on Avie July 2015), and continues to work with the group including a tour of northern Spain in 2019. Voice has performed their Early Music programme, A Life of Love and Joy, at the Oxford Early Music Festival and the Petworth Festival described as “an absolute triumph of history and music”. In 2018, the trio participates in the Brighton Early Music Festival’s mentoring and development scheme, Early Music Live! Through this scheme, Voice are exploring medieval repertoire, especially songs of the French and Italian Ars Nova (13th to 15th centuries).

The trio has released two albums Musical Harmony (2013) “…a stunning body of work destined to prick up the hairs on the back of one’s neck” Tim Hughes (Oxford Times & Mail) and Patterns of Love (2015), which features four commissions by British female composers, made possible with Arts Council England funding.

Voice has toured the USA three times with Baylin Artist Management, most recently in collaboration with internationally renowned ‘cellist, Matt Haimovitz. Closer to home, Voice has enjoyed several performances in Brussels, at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival (2016 – 18), the inaugural Finding A Voice Festival, celebrating International Women’s Day (2018), and Three Choirs Festival (2017) where they premiered a suite of pieces for Voice and ‘cello, composed by Roderick Williams.

Illustrating the breadth of repertoire Voice performs, their recording of Leoš Janáček’s Ríkadla “Nursery Rhymes” and Diary of one who disappeared with Julius Drake, Nicky Spence was released on Hyperion Records in July 2019 to great acclaim “The arrival of the siren-like trio… (the diaphanous Voice) is heart-stopping and haunting in equal measure.” Gramophone – Recording of the Month. The album won best vocal performance for a BBC Music Magazine Award 2020.

In 2021 Voice launched a new exciting collaborative programme Hildegard Transfigured: a medieval trance for the 21st Century with psychedelic visual artist Innerstrings and composer Laura Moody supported by Help Musicians Fusion Fund. They will release an album of this programme on SOMM Records in June 2022.

“**** Voice (Victoria Couper, Emily Burn and Clemmie Franks), one of several such groups competing for the slot left by the reputed imminent dissolution of Anonymous 4. They sound excellent” (Gramophone)

“Victoria Couper, Clemmie Franks and Emily Burn wove their distinct voices into an all-encompassing sound that served as a reminder that the human voice, when in the proper hands, needs no amplification or digital distortion to prove its power” (Planet Hugill)

This album contains no booklet.