Lieselot De Wilde: soprano,
Eugénie De Mey: alto,
Christos Barbas: ney, percussion,
Nabil Naïr: ney,
Nathan Daems: ney,
Tristan Driessens: oud, artistic direction
***** Rencontre inattendue mais ô combien convaincante entre la plus célèbre des compositrices du Moyen-Âge et la musique orientale.
La Libre Belgique
With Divan-e Shohud – The Book of Visions, Tristan Driessens and the Illuminans Tenebras Ensemble hope to shed new light on the music of Hildegard von Bingen, one of the most remarkable women of the Middle Ages. The musical approach of the ensemble shows that the monophony in the songs of Hildegard von Bingen bears a striking resemblance with various basic Ottoman makams — Kürdî, Mahur, Uşşak. Illuminans Tenebras places Hildegard’s mystical sounds alongside impassioned Eastern improvisations and links 12th-century Christian mysticism with Sufism of the same period. The recording highlights the musical and spiritual elements that the two traditions have in common: monodic melodies, improvisation, and ecstasy — music as a path to the divine.
Recorded 9 – 11 December 2024
Begijnhof, Sint-Truiden, Belgium
Executive production, artistic direction, audio engineering & graphical design: Rainer Arndt
Production: Tristan Driessens
Cover: Scivias, 1141-51
Inside photography: Christoph Martin Frommen
