Rare Ordo Virtutum performance Sunday

Have you ever heard of Hildegard von Bingen? If you’re not part of medieval music circles, then like me, you’ve missed something.

However, this 12th century abbess, mystic, healer, naturalist, author and composer definitely deserves to be outed. According to several sources, she was a powerful figure in both the church and state, and left a legacy of music, art and writing that is comparable to the masters.

One of her plays, Ordo Virtutum, is a liturgical drama she wrote for the nuns, and is on record as the oldest surviving morality play.

Although rarely performed in today’s theatrical arenas, the Ordo Collective is reviving it on Sunday, April 22 at the Providence Centre Chapel.

An early feminist, von Bingen was born into a noble family and became a power in her own right.

Fascinated by her body of work, director Eva Bostrand said, “She was ahead of her time. She did things other women did not do. She rose to become an abbess. She took a stand of right against wrong. She was not afraid of church authority and spoke her mind. She educated herself and had a great appetite for learning.”

The Ordo Collective, founded by Bostrand, is a group of 12 Edmonton area professional and semi-professional female singers who are top tier. Among them are St. Albert sopranos Carole Kube and Catherine Kubash. Former city resident Ava Leigh Crockett, now living in Vancouver, is also driving in for this special presentation.

“Hildegard has been on my radar for as long as I have appreciated classical music,” says Bostrand.

Last year when she took a special workshop on von Bingen, she found a DVD of an English dramatization of Ordo Virtutum.

“I was totally awestruck by the juxtaposition of the serene, innocent music with the tremendously dramatic plot.”

Simply put, Ordo Virtutum is about the struggle of the human soul (Anima) between The Virtues and the Devil.

In the 12th century, von Bingen saw many women enter the monastery for varying reasons. Some girls from noble families were offered as oblates to the church. Others were escaping abusive situations and others sought spirituality.

“In this play she shows us a slice of life. Anima, a young woman, comes to the monastery seeking spiritual guidance. She comes from an abusive experience and The Virtues offer to heal her. But as a novice she is still struggling with the outside world.

The Devil comes in and draws her out. She comes back wounded and roughed up and asks if they (The Virtues) will accept her. They do and when the Devil comes back, The Virtues bind him.”

At stake is humanity’s enduring struggle.

“She talks about the struggle of good and evil, new life and old, the spiritual life and the worldly life.”

As for Kube, who plays the role of Faith, the music enraptures.

“There’s beautiful chant-like music. There’s tension, surprise and drama. It’s a drama sung in Latin we don’t often see.”