St. Albert singers get medieval for concert

Several St. Albert musicians are among a group that is getting ready to bring some 12th century music into the 21st century.

The production of Hildegard von Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum (The Way of the Virtues) will take place on Saturday at All Saints Anglican Church, located at 10035 103 St. in Edmonton. The musical drama was written nearly 1,000 years ago, in the 1100s, and involves plenty of lyrics in Latin and Gregorian-style chants.

Musicians involved in the production who have local connections include St. Albert resident and soprano Carole Kube; St. Albert school teacher and soprano Caroline Kubash; former St. Albert resident and alto Avaleigh Crockett; Onoway resident and soprano Janet Smith; and St. Albertan Trent Worthington, who arranged some of the music. All five currently are or have been members of renowned vocal ensemble Pro Coro.

The producer and artistic director for the production is renowned Edmonton voice teacher Eva Bostrand, who has been coaching Kube and brought the idea of performing Ordo Virtutum to her.

“She's been sort of dreaming about this for a while, so I kind of knew it was coming,” Kube said with a laugh. “I have never done anything like this before, so when I was asked if I wanted to be part of it, I was very excited to partake.”

Ordo Virtutum depicts the struggle between the virtues and the devil for the soul of a young woman named Anima. It is believed that the first performance was given by a group of Hildegard von Bingen’s nuns at the dedication of a new church abbey in St. Rupertsburg, along the Rhine River, in 1152.

Singing a work that was first composed in the 11th century has presented its fair share of challenges, Kube said.

“We still sing some pieces in Latin, so that wasn't as much of a challenge,” she said. “I think the biggest challenge is that most of this work is in unison, so we're singing the same notes at the same time. We're not in a choral formation per se; we're spread out a little bit. It's harder to sing all the same notes than it is to sing in harmony.”

For Worthington, the task of arranging the piece and adapting it to modern instruments became a little more daunting once he immersed himself in it.

“I'm a little slow in this regard; I always say, 'Yeah, that'll be no problem,' then I realize, 'Wait a second, this is more difficult than it seems,'” he said with a laugh.

“I didn't write a whole lot for [the harpist] to play; the bulk of the accompaniment in those days was improvised, of course. [I compiled] a little bit of information about chord structure and harmony for [the harp] and a little bit of information, words and notes, for the singers,” he added. “At first glance, that ought to be easy. But trying to figure out how to write with a modern notation program, music that is really notated in a style that is more than four centuries old is slightly challenging.”

While Hildegard von Bingen might not be a household name, she left quite the legacy. She was a trailblazer in many fields, including natural medicine and healing, as well as being a composer and an author. Some have even compared the work she did to that of Leonardo da Vinci in its depth and scope.

Kube said that, as she learned more about Hildegard, she was inspired by her accomplishments.

“Eva and Caroline [Howarth, the director] both researched her a lot, so their enthusiasm about her, her works and how she was on the bleeding edge of many things — whether it be herbal remedies, or what you should eat that's good for you, or musically — these two women are quite strong women, and they're independent women that also have visions of things,” she said. “They were really inspired by Hildegard, and that enthusiasm just sucked us all in.”