22 July 2025
Today is the Feast Day of St Mary of Magdalene when the Song of Songs is read or sung in church. This biblical love poem is notable for its dominant female voice, and has inspired a swathe of women composers, explains The Revd Canon Anna Macham in her recent Church Times feature, Inspired by the Song of Songs (£).
“It should come as no surprise that female composers of sacred music down the ages have been inspired to set texts from the Song of Songs to music,” writes Macham, Salisbury Cathedral Canon Precentor and Sarum College Visiting Scholar.
“The Song was intended to be sung to music, and — unusually in the Hebrew Scriptures — the female voice is dominant in the text, speaking two-thirds of the lines. From Hildegard of Bingen (c.1098-1179) in medieval times to the early Baroque Italian composer Raffaella Aleotti (c.1570-after 1646), women were inspired by the sensuous beauty of its descriptions and its confident female voice.”
Macham explains how the slow, meditative pace of the medieval abbess and mystic Hildegard of Bingen’s “Columba aspexit,” allowed nuns to contemplate its spiritual meaning, and exemplifies how sacred song can elevate prayer into mystical union with God. She also notes Hildegard’s enduring influence, with her album A Feather on the Breath of God being the only female-composed work featured in BBC Music Magazine’s top 50 classical albums.
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The Revd Anna Macham was recently appointed Visiting Scholar at Sarum College. Read more
Inspired by the Song of Songs Church Times, 18 July 2025 (£)
Hildegard of Bingen features in Sarum College courses and faculty research. Dr Michael Hahn, Programme Leader for Sarum College’s MA in Christian Spirituality, reflects on the mystic’s legacy in this feature, Exploring the Legacy of Hildegard of Bingen.
The image illustrating this news post is a picture of pages from Sarum College’s Heritage Edition of the Saint John’s Bible.
The Saint John’s Bible is on permanent display at Sarum College and occasionally the full set of volumes are displayed in special exhibitions. The Saint John’s Bible will feature in a forthcoming exhibition of bible illustrations through the centuries. Various bibles from the Sarum College Library collection, dating from 1605 to the present day, will be on display from 8 to 13 September 2025.
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