O tu suavissima virga

Responsory for the Virgin (D 156v, R 468r, Scivias III.13.1b) by Hildegard of Bingen Back to Table of Contents

R. O tu suavissima virga frondens de stirpe Jesse, O quam magna virtus est quod divinitas in pulcherrimam filiam aspexit, sicut aquila in solem oculum suum ponit: R. Cum supernus Pater claritatem Virginis adtendit ubi Verbum suum in ipsa incarnari voluit. V. Nam in mistico misterio Dei, illustrata mente Virginis, mirabiliter clarus flos ex ipsa Virgine exivit: R. Cum supernus Pater claritatem Virginis adtendit ubi Verbum suum in ipsa incarnari voluit. Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui sancto, sicut erat in principio. R. Cum supernus Pater claritatem Virginis adtendit ubi Verbum suum in ipsa incarnari voluit.

R. O sweetest branch, you bloom from Jesse’s stock! How great the mighty power, that divinity upon a daughter’s beauty gazed— an eagle turns his eye into the sun: R. As Heaven’s Father tended to the Virgin’s splendor when he willed his Word in her to be incarnate. V. For in God’s mystic mystery, the Virgin’s mind illuminéd, the flower bright—a wonder!— forth from that Virgin sprung: R. As Heaven’s Father tended to the Virgin’s splendor when he willed his Word in her to be incarnate. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and the Spirit Holy, as it was in the beginning. R. As Heaven’s Father tended to the Virgin’s splendor when he willed his Word in her to be incarnate.

Latin collated from the transcription of Beverly Lomer and the edition of Barbara Newman; translation by Nathaniel M. Campbell.

Commentary: Music and Rhetoric
by Beverly Lomer

A mode
Range: E below the final to C an octave and a 3rd above the final
Setting: neumatic with several melismas on key words

It seems that there are several errors in the Dendermonde manuscript that have been corrected in the Riesenkodex version of this responsory. The most significant one is the opening notes. D begins on B, which is highly unlikely in an A mode piece. R gives the opening on A, which is probably correct. The other appears on page 2, line 1 of the transcription, at the opening of the repetendum. While the melody in D might not be an error, R changes it. The phrase, Cum supernus Pater claritatem, ends on G in D, but R lowers the last passage by a third to end on E, which is a more common tonal punctuator in this mode. This solution, however, removes some of the rhetorical import of the reach to the high C, a tone that is not as common in the A mode but which Hildegard often uses for emphasis.

Most phrases are outlined by A, the modal final; E above the final is also used. There are a few places where further interpretation is possible, e.g. page 1 of the transcription, lines 3 and 4. It is possible to continue line 3 to include quod divinitas in one phrase; a tick barline has been inserted there for reference. That would make the next phrase start with, in pulcherrimam filiam aspexit. Though Hildegard does not usually dilute the upward leap of a fifth by the use of a repeated note before, here the extra beat on the preposition would be the intended phrasing for this gesture. Similarly, the opening gesture in the repetendum, Cum supernus Pater claritatem, begins on a single note A and is followed by a pes neume with the leap from A to E; this opening phrase cannot be broken. Although we have sometimes broken the textual syntax to allow the musical opening of the fifth to stand alone in other songs, this song demonstrates that that cannot be a hard and fast rule.

In O tu suavissima virga, Mary pre-exists the Incarnation as a radiant being who was chosen by God on this account. While radiance was traditionally attributed to Mary, here Hildegard hints at an illumination that resonates with primary divinity. God, the eagle, sets His eye on the sun, Mary. The melodic substructure reinforces the association. The highest pitch, C, occurs on the word solem (sun): “divinity gazed upon a beautiful daughter as an eagle turns his eye into the sun.”

An elaboration of the same melody and registral high pitch also fall on claritas in the repetendum, the radiance of the Virgin, with a final iteration of the motive on voluit (willed): “When the heavenly Father noticed the Virgin’s radiance, when he willed his Word in her to be incarnate.” Significantly, these are the only occurrences of this melodic fragment.

Interestingly, in the verse, Hildegard also describes Mary’s mind as illumined, and as a result, she brought forth the flower of the Son. Hildegard insisted that rationality was equally a quality of men and women, and thus the metaphor also serves her larger goal in these songs—the recovery of the original glory of Woman.

Further Resources for O tu suavissima virga

• Hildegard of Bingen, Symphonia, ed. Barbara Newman (Cornell Univ. Press, 1988 / 1998), pp. 132 and 277-8.
• Lomer, Beverly R. “Rhetoric and the Creation of Feminist Consciousness in the Marian Songs of Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179).” Ph.D. diss., Florida Atlantic University, 2006.
• Lomer, Beverly. Music, Rhetoric and the Sacred Feminine. Saarbrücken, Germany: Verlag Dr. Müller, 2009.
• For a discography of this piece, see the comprehensive list by Pierre-F. Roberge: Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) - A discography