Vox et Anima

Vox et anima - Voice and Soul
The music in Christian Hildebrandt's Latin settings does not directly depict the events described in the texts, but the feelings associated with them. And feelings mirror experiences - both those we have lived through ourselves, and those we sense through the lives of others. In music, those feelings can become present again. Perhaps that is what we call soul. Voice and soul - vox et anima.
It carries a particular significance for me that the texts are in Latin. Latin is no longer anyone's everyday language, but in the Middle Ages it was Europe's common academic tongue - an instrument for preserving and transmitting thoughts across generations. The texts revolve around the fundamental conditions of human life: love, beauty, birth, community, hunger, loneliness, anxiety, suffering, death and hope - and through the music they become a lens that gives them new life.

Contents
4 Ave vera virginitas (1997/2024) - purification and hope
6 Oculi omnium (2005) - hunger, trust and fulfilment
19 Lux aeterna (2002/2014) - light, security and rest
25 Magnificat I (2003/2009) - the trembling of anticipation
29 Alma redemptoris mater (2004/2014) - helplessness, wonder and separation
40 Stabat mater (1994) - suffering, death and compassion
52 Adflictus sum (2001) - anxiety and solitude
55 Ubi caritas (2001) - love and community
60 Ego flos campi (2018/2024) - blossoming and beauty