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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

Composer of the Week - Brand

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Birth of Polyphony

Composer of the Week: Birth of Polyphony: Episode 1: Hildegard of Bingen

Episode 1

Episode 1: Hildegard of Bingen

Birth of Polyphony

Hildegard of Bingen

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Birth of Polyphony, Hildegard of Bingen

Donald Macleod looks at the music of the celebrated nun Hildegard of Bingen.

The transition from pure monophony to complex polyphony is a gradual one. Donald Macleod begins by looking at the life and music of the self-taught Hildegard of Bingen.

Donald Macleod begins this week by looking at the life and music one of the most celebrated women composers of the middle ages: Hildegard of Bingen. 

The transition from pure monophony to complex polyphony was a gradual one. It is argued that polyphony was never entirely absent from European music-making; nor did monophony suddenly go out of fashion. Nevertheless, a fascinating development can be traced between the 12th and 14th centuries, with new musical forms, new rhythmic modes, and new methods of musical notation. 

Thanks to recordings in recent decades the abbess Hildegard has been propelled from obscurity into the canon of women composers. She not only composed the Latin words for which she supplied the melodies - she also ran her own monastery, designed the eccentric outfits for her high-born nuns, and wrote on a variety of subjects, from visions to the practical uses of birds, beasts and trees.

O viridissima virga 
Gothic Voices
Christopher Page, director

O presul vere civitatis 
Oxford Camerata, 
Jeremy Summerly, director

O Jerusalem (de sancto Ruperto)
Emma Kirkby, soprano
Gothic Voices
Christopher Page, director

Favus Distillans
Anonymous 4

O ignee spiritus, O cohors militae floris
O viriditas digiti Dei 
Sabine Lutzenberger, soprano & bells
Baptiste Romain, medieval vielles & bowed lyre

Columba aspexit
Emma Kirkby, soprano
Gothic Voices
Christopher Page, director 
 
Producer Geoff Ballinger.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod takes a look at the  transition from pure monophony to complex polyphony

The transition from pure monophony to complex polyphony is a gradual one. Donald Macleod takes a close look at the change

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Episode 1: Hildegard of Bingen

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