MY SISTER, MY LOVE: the Hildegard and Richardis story

Hildegard von Bingen is one of the most influential figures of the 12th century. She was a Benedictine abbess, first at a monastery called Disibodenberg and then at an abbey she founded called Rupertsberg. In her lifetime she wrote a trilogy of theological works which contained her unique interpretations of the triune God, creation, microcosm and macrocosm, the universe, and more. In the abbey she worked as a botanist and a physician, learning how to diagnose and treat many ailments with herbs and crystals. She composed dozens of sacred vocal works, despite never having formally studied music, and as such her compositions are very different from the rest of the Gregorian tradition. Often times she set her own poetry to music. Perhaps the biggest thing to note about Hildegard is that she was a prophetess, declared by Pope Eugene III in 1147, which gave her the authority as an uneducated woman to write and speak as a theological visionary.

Richardis von Stade was born into a very important family in the Rhineland, as the daughter of a military commander for the Holy Roman Empire, and sister to Hartwig, who was the Count of Stade, a city in northern Germany, as well as Archbishop of Bremen, which was not far from Stade. It’s not exactly clear how Richardis came to be at Disibodenberg in real life, but she spent many years as a nun there, developing an intimate friendship with Hildegard as they compiled Scivias, Hildegard’s first collection of prophetic visions. 

The friendship the two cultivated was atypical and actually came into question by many at the time for its unusual closeness and intimacy.

A lecture recital is a format often seen in the collegiate setting, where a performer simultaneously gives an oral presentation and performs musical repertoire. The music is chosen to help illustrate the idea the presenter is trying to convey to the audience, and sometimes particular pieces of music are the actual subject of the presentation.

In this case, I will be presenting on the story of Hildegard von Bingen and Richardis von Stade, and using some musical excerpts from the opera Hildegard by Sarah Kirkland Snider to help illustrate the story and make it come to life.

The following is taken from composer Sarah Kirkland Snider’s website:

“Co-commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects and the Aspen Music Festival and School, HILDEGARD – winner of the 2026 Best New Opera Award by the Music Critics Association of North America – is a work of operatic historical fiction about twelfth-century German Benedictine abbess/polymath St. Hildegard von Bingen. Set in 1147, the opera follows Hildegard as she receives visions from God. While transcribing these visions for Papal evaluation – a process that will decide her prophet or heretic – she enlists the young convalescent Richardis von Stade to illustrate the manuscript. As they develop a transformative collaboration that awakens them in ways both profound and unexpected, the two women must confront the powers that would see them erased from history rather than authoring it. At the same time, Hildegard is haunted by mysterious visions she cannot explain, forcing her to grapple with unacknowledged truths she can no longer deny.

Inspired by historical events and the writings of Hildegard von Bingen, HILDEGARD is a meditation on the desire for connection – to spirituality, to humanity, and to our most authentic sense of self – and the conflicts that can compete therein.”

I will alternate between speaking and singing. There will be a visual aid for the presentation, complete with production photos from the Aspen Music Festival performance of Hildegard, starring myself in the title role.

I have chosen excerpts from the opera which can be performed as standalone “arias”, and which highlight different pivotal moments in the story and give emotional weight to the story.

Yes!

The recital will be livestreamed on the Southminster Presbyterian Church YouTube channel. The recording will remain available at the same link after the event has concluded.

No - this event is free admission. A goodwill offering will be collected if you are able to give, but this is not mandatory.