http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ol_QffDhE

As you may know, I’ve started to write a series of music history posts on the blog called “The story of music”. Here there will be a series of music suggestions to listen to. Though these will be independent posts, these posts will be written by the same order (as the story of music) and will be related to the music history posts. So if you read these posts and want to know more about it, you can go to “The story of music” posts, or vice versa (if you read “The story of music” and want to find some examples to see how it would sound like and have an analysis of the piece or/and a music guide, this is the place).

The first music suggestion is from the middle ages by Hildegard of Bingen called Alleluia, O virga mediatrix (Alleluia, O mediating branch). “The story of music (Part 1)”

This piece is from a Mass Proper and is written in the genre of plainchant. It has a monophonic texture and free rhythm. The text shifts from melismatic (many notes to a syllable) to neumatic (small groups of notes to a syllable) is noteworthy. The range of notes is slightly over an octave. Note that the climaxes of this piece are on words “sancta viscera”, “pulchro flore”. At the end, the opening Alleluia repeats.