About

Join us for Viriditas: the music and life of Hildegard von Bingen, a unique series of events exploring the contemporary resonances of the music and life of one of the most remarkable women of the middle ages. Hildegard von Bingen (1098 - 1179) was a visionary, mystic, poet, healer, naturalist and theologian. She was also the world’s first named composer – and the most prolific and original musician of her time.

Viriditas (Latin for “green truth” or “greening power”) speaks to the intrinsic and vital relationships that exist between all living beings. The concept is central to the systematic botanical and medicinal texts - for which Hildegard is recognised as the founder of German naturalism - and is a theme key to her life-long ecstatic visions that are strikingly documented in the poetic lyrics and soaring melodies of her music, and in the texts and illuminations of her theological and cosmological treaties.

In a lucid celebration of the natural world, the café-bar will be transformed into a restorative space to bathe in the sound of Sussex birdsong. A collaboration between musician and ecoacoustics researcher Dr Alice Eldridge and meditation teacher Alistair Appleton, Bird Bath premiered at the 2018 Newhaven Festival and is evolved for Viriditas. It is a simple idea: at dusk, the café bar will be filled with field recordings of birdsong from the woodlands, downlands and cliffs of East Sussex. Sit peacefully and bathe in the sound of birds: stay for as long or as little as you like.

For this event, Alistair Appleton with lead a simple listening meditation within the sound installation. Trained mainly in the Buddhist tradition, Alistair also draws from Thai Forest, Shamanic and Vajrayana traditions and practices to bring the basic practices and benefits of meditation, or mindfulness, to people in all walks of life.

Pay What You Decide

All tickets for this event are Pay What You Decide (PWYD). Come and see the show without paying anything in advance, and then pay what you think is appropriate at the end of the show. Please phone the box office on 01273 678822 or email boxoffice@attenboroughcentre.com for further information.

Access

If you have access requirements that you would like to discuss with us or would like to book a ticket for a Personal Assistant please contact the box office on 01273 678 822 or email boxoffice@attenboroughcentre.com.

Box Office Opening Times

The box office (phone line and drop-in service) is open from 10am to 4pm, Mondays to Fridays. The box office is also open one hour before the advertised show start time.