O Rubor Sanguinis

• O Rubor Sanguinis, Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
• Otto Muller Verlag, Salzburg 1969
• Instrumentation: Choir, no instrumentation.  This piece was much more enjoyable for me than Kyrie was, primarily because it was more exciting from the beginning.  It has a much richer sound to it.  Maybe the women are harmonizing (I can't tell), or maybe it's because they are singing in a venue with better acoustics that allow for an echo.  I thought that the length of the piece was perfect; any longer and the novelty of the echo, or whatever it was that strengthened the sound, would have worn off.  
• Texture: There was one line of music the whole time, yet I thought the piece did not lack texture because it had a large sound that seemed full.
• Range: The women in this piece cover a large range of notes.  I found the lower notes to be the highlights of the piece for me.  I didn't enjoy it as much when they sang in the higher octaves.  The lower notes seemed to resonate better and have a more mysterious feel to them.
• Tempo: The music felt slow and even.
• Meter: I was not able to pick up on a distinct meter, but again, the piece felt slow and steady to me.
• Volume: The variance in the volume kept me interested; I particularly liked the softer parts, which seemed to correlate to the lower notes.  
• The richness of this song really demonstrated how women can sing powerfully, and the (de)crescendos showed off their control.  Highlighting their power and control is definitely an effective way to show that women too can be masters of music and not just in a quiet way, but also with a strong presence.