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Yarlung Records

Hildegard & Her Sisters

$21.99

Details

Composer
Amy Beach, Hildegard von Bingen, Katelyn Bouska, Maya Miro Johnson, Ruth Shoenthal, Slava Vorlova
Artist
Katelyn Bouska
Format
CD
Label
Yarlung Records
Released
Nov 15, 2024
Catalog #
YAR59689
UPC
198015596899

About

Hildegard And Her Sisters, Katelyn Bouska, piano. After our first success with Women and War and Peace, Katelyn Bouska put a big smile on my face when she mentioned a second project she wanted to do with Yarlung Records. Kate can play any genre, and we discussed an album celebrating the great composer, mystic, poet, philosopher, scientist, rabble-rouser and visionary abbess Hildegard von Bingen. Hildegard is the first composer for whom we have a definite name in the European canon. She was born in 1098 and died in 1179 at 81 years of age. I was even more enthusiastic when we discussed that Kate and Yarlung would commission new music for the project in Hildegard's honor. To help place Hildegard in wider European history, she was born a mere 32 years after the Battle of Hastings, 47 years before the start of construction of Chartres Cathedral, and Henry IV was Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire after inheriting Charlemagne's throne in Aachen. Kate wanted to return to Samueli Theater at Segerstrom Center for the Arts where we made our first recording together. Aaron Egigian was able to secure dates over Easter Weekend, March 29th, 30th and 31st, 2024, when the concert hall, Kate and our team were available. My fellow recording engineer Arian Jansen and I set up for the recording before Kate arrived, and while I do not believe in frequent divine intervention for such things, we asked Hildegard to "bless the more than 50 vacuum tubes" that we would need to be working perfectly for the recording. With or without Hildegard's intercession, all vacuum tubes worked beautifully for the duration without hiss, pop or crackle. Because Hildegard is best known for her vocal music, we decided to record this album as if Kate's piano were a full choir, stretching from far left to far right in the soundstage. Thanks to the superb acoustics in Samueli Theater, you may hear ambience and extreme high and low notes on Kate's keyboard expanding outside your speakers in your listening room. Unconventional as this may be for a solo piano recording, this was intentional such that the listener can experience more of the sound Kate enjoyed sitting at the piano, as if our ears are Kate's ears while she plays.

Tracklist 8 tracks

  1. 1 Hermit Thrush at Eve, Op. 92, No. 1 05:08
    Track
    1
    Title
    Hermit Thrush at Eve, Op. 92, No. 1
    Duration
    05:08
    Composer
    Amy Beach
    Performer
    Katelyn Bouska
  2. 2 O vis aeternitatis (arr. for piano) 05:12
    Track
    2
    Title
    O vis aeternitatis (arr. for piano)
    Duration
    05:12
    Composer
    Hildegard von Bingen
    Performer
    Katelyn Bouska
  3. 3 bruises paraphrase 11:06
    Track
    3
    Title
    bruises paraphrase
    Duration
    11:06
    Composer
    Maya Miro Johnson
    Performer
    Katelyn Bouska
  4. 4 O quam mirabilis est (arr. for piano) 03:47
    Track
    4
    Title
    O quam mirabilis est (arr. for piano)
    Duration
    03:47
    Composer
    Hildegard von Bingen
    Performer
    Katelyn Bouska
  5. 5 Canticles of Hieronymus 17:47
    Track
    5
    Title
    Canticles of Hieronymus
    Duration
    17:47
    Composer
    Ruth Schoental
    Performer
    Katelyn Bouska
  6. 6 Karitas habundat (arr. for piano) 03:41
    Track
    6
    Title
    Karitas habundat (arr. for piano)
    Duration
    03:41
    Composer
    Hildegard von Bingen
    Performer
    Katelyn Bouska
  7. 7 Sila svetla (The Power of Light) 04:37
    Track
    7
    Title
    Sila svetla (The Power of Light)
    Duration
    04:37
    Composer
    Sláva Vorlová
    Performer
    Katelyn Bouska
  8. 8 Hermit Thrush at Morn, Op. 92, No. 2 04:49
    Track
    8
    Title
    Hermit Thrush at Morn, Op. 92, No. 2
    Duration
    04:49
    Composer
    Amy Beach
    Performer
    Katelyn Bouska