We can securely attribute more compositions to Hildegard von Bingen than to any other musician, male or female, who worked before the early 14th century. In spite of her impressive output, Hildegard did not consider herself and impressive composer or musician. Born into a noble family in what is now western Germany, she entered Benedictine convent at the age of 7 and took vows when she was 16. In her early 30s she began to experience visions and revelations, which she recorded in a series of books. Hildegard was the first woman to receive explicit permission from a pope to write on theology. She also wrote on such diverse subjects as medicine, plants, and lives of the saints, all while directing the life of a thriv9ng convent as its abbess.
