Les Brigittines

Symphonia Harmoniae Caelestium Revelationum is the title of the musical oeuvre of Hildegard von Bingen, the twelfth-century Benedictine abbess, mystic, theologian, physician and musician. François Chaignaud and Marie-Pierre Brébant invite the audience to immerse itself in her complete cycle of 69 monodies during a three-hour session. They recite the songs from memory, accompanied by the bandura, a traditional Ukrainian string instrument. Their bodies form a musical archive which, song after song, confronts us with another perspective on the roots of Western culture. The work of Hildegard von Bingen is characterized by the use of keys that can easily sound strange with regard to the European musical tradition. Chaignaud and Brébant give voice to the unexpected tonal anomalies that once formed the core of Western culture but have now vanished from the modern canon.

Their exploration of our musical and spiritual past straddles the border between a meditative installation, a concert and a contemplative choreography. Body, voice and bandura culminate in an ecstatic vision that exposes once more the physical relationship with the divine.