Dr. Elaine Stratton Hild, guest lecture with chant and spoken text performed by CSU students
During her lifetime in the Middle Ages, Hildegard of Bingen was famous—and infamous—as a mystic whose visions compelled her to write, compose music, create artwork, found her own monastic community, preach throughout the German regions, and advise (and sometimes challenge) kings, popes, and emperors. In our time, she is revered as a saint and Doctor of the Church and serves as an inspiration for diverse groups of people, including writers, musicians, feminists, and medicinal gardeners. This talk presents Hildegard of Bingen through her own words—by examining her writings, letters, music, and artwork.
2026.09.15
Guest Lecturer
Elaine Stratton Hild
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Dr Elaine Stratton Hild is currently completing a scholarly edition of Hildegard’s liturgical drama Ordo virtutum. Dr Hild has worked professionally with medieval music for 14 years, and counting, as an editor with Corpus monodicum, a long-term research and publication project housed at the Universität Würzburg (Germany). Her research on medieval chant and its notation has been supported by the University of Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study, the DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst), and the Fulbright Foundation. Dr. Hild’s most recent book recovers the music sung for the dying during the Middle Ages: Music in Medieval Rituals for the End of Life (Oxford University Press, 2024). Through her small business, Palliative Music, Elaine regularly leaves the academic tower to offer the comfort of music to people experiencing end-of-life care in the Fort Collins area.
