It is a story of the daughter of a Christian British king and an ill-fated voyage. Music wakes us from our Sluggishness. As the legend goes, to protest her betrothel to a pagan prince, Ursula, with ten noble virgin companions, set out by sea for several years She made the mistake of stopping in Cologne, where she and her entourage were martyred by the Huns after Ursula refused to marry their chief. Over the centuries the ten virgins became 11,000, a church was built in their honor, Ursala was beatified, and Hildegard von Bingen was inspired to write a lovely cantata, and to encourage abstinence of women. Some of the earliest writings on human sexuality are attributed to Hildegard, and she wrote about science, medicine, and diet - practices adopted by some in Germany and other parts of Europe even today.
Music makes cold hearts warm.
It is amazing that the writings and music of Hildegard von Bingen can still speak to audiences 900 years after they were written. She claimed they were works inspired by the visions she experienced her whole life, visions that ultimately led the church to beatify Hildegard after her death. It is ironic, therefore, that many scholars now contend her visions were caused by migraine headaches. Even if this was their origin, it's an indicator of her strength of spirit that Hildegard was able to turn debilitating illness into the word of God, and through it create so much to affect so many. Humans are the musical instruments of God.