Favus distillans

Responsory for St. Ursula and Companions, likely for Matins (D 167v, R 471va) Back to Table of Contents
by Hildegard of Bingen

R. Favus distillans Ursula virgo fuit, que Agnum Dei amplecti desideravit, mel et lac sub lingua eius: R. Quia pomiferum hortum et flores florum in turba virginum ad se collegit. V. Unde in nobilissima aurora gaude, filia Syon. R. Quia pomiferum hortum et flores florum in turba virginum ad se collegit. Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui sancto. R. Quia pomiferum hortum et flores florum in turba virginum ad se collegit.

R. A dripping honeycomb was the virgin Ursula, who yearned to embrace the Lamb of God, the honey and milk beneath her tongue: R. Because a garden bearing fruits, the flowers’ blooms, she gathered round, a virgins’ brood. V. So in the noblest dawn rejoice, O daughter of Zion! R. Because a garden bearing fruits, the flowers’ blooms, she gathered round, a virgins’ brood. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. R. For a garden bearing fruits, the flowers’ blooms, she gathered round, a virgins’ brood.

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

Commentary: Themes and Theology
by Nathaniel M. Campbell

This responsory features images gleaned from the Song of Songs 4:11-13:

Favus distillans labia tua, sponsa; mel et lac sub lingua tua: et odor vestimentorum tuorum sicut odor thuris. Hortus conclusus soror mea, sponsa, hortus conclusus, fons signatus. Emissiones tuae paradisus malorum punicorum, cum pomorum fructibus.

Thy lips, my spouse, are as a dropping honeycomb, honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments, as the smell of frankincense. My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up. Thy plants are a paradise of pomegranates with the fruits of the orchard.

This mode is surprisingly rare in Hildegard’s works, given its rich contemporary elaboration in Cistercian circles (e.g. St. Bernard of Clairvaux). The relative lack of bridal mysticism in her oeuvre (though see O dulcissime amator) may in fact reveal a more traditional grounding in the liturgical uses of the Song of Songs, whose verses had been adapted into the antiphons and responsories for Marian feasts. Song of Songs 4:11 (Favus distillans etc.) was, for example, commonly used as an antiphon for the Assumption (August 15). As with O rubor sanguinis, this responsory also echoes several of Hildegard’s own compositions for the Virgin. In particular, the Son’s dawn light gleaming amid the virginal flower recalls Hodie aperuit nobis and strophe 6a of O virga ac diadema.

The final strophe of that sequence likewise shows us that both the Virgin Mary and the virgin Ursula have a mission to “collect” or “gather” faithful followers for Christ. This is, of course, also the mission of the Virgin Mother Church, who becomes the explicit figure for Ursula and her companions in the sequence, O Ecclesia. Ursula’s “virgins’ brood” (turba virginum) is thus also linked with the band of apostles (apostolorum turba) in O lucidissima. Because this responsory would have been sung at Matins, it sets the stage for the narrative series of eight antiphons Hildegard composed for Lauds (Symphonia 63), to highlight the evangelizing element of their mission.

Transcription and Music Notes
by Beverly Lomer

A mode
Range: E below the final to A an octave above the final
Setting: neumatic with several longer melismas

In this piece, Hildegard begins and ends most phrases with the final. Alternatively, some conclude on E or G, and the repetendum, curiously, begins on G. The salutation also departs from Hildegard’s typical practice of beginning and ending on the final, with the last note on favus distillans being E. It is possible to consider that opening phrase as more of a prelude than a salutation, with the real address being the extended phrase: Ursula virgo fuit que Agnum Dei amplecti desideravit. Moreover, the first return to the final comes on the conjunction que, with Agnum beginning the next phrase with a three-note span to the fifth. The musical syntax thus departs from the textual syntax, in which the conjunction que should begin the subordinate clause. As per our project principles, we allow the musical grammar to guide our textual editing. In this case, the result is to emphasize the Agnum Dei, the Lamb of God.

Beginning with line 4 on page 1 of the transcription and interrupted by the setting of quia, and then continuing onto page 2, there are 6 phrases that open with the leap from A to E. Repeated gestures on openings are typical of Hildegard, but this one is notable for so many in a row. The conjunction et (and) at the end of the last line on page one is set to E and is placed with the phrase pomiferum hortum rather than at the beginning of the next line. While the tendency in modern English might be to group “and” with the second clause, in Latin, word order is less significant – and here the music really seems to dictate the phrasing we have chosen. Otherwise the rhetorical repetition is diluted, as is the intended emphasis on key words.

There are inconsistencies in the notes assigned to the first word of the repetendum, quia. I have transcribed them literally as they appear in each manuscript, which gives only this word as the indicator for the response. The R version of this that appears on page 1, which is later also repeated in D, is probably the one intended.

The first phrase in the verse that follows the first repeat can be conceived either as Unde in nobilissima or Unde nobilissima aurora. Because aurora begins on E and is therefore not outlined by the final, the second interpretation makes sense. I did not add a tick barline to the transcription here but rather leave it to singers to decide how they like it.

One last thing: this transcription was done a number of years before the start of this project and some of the conventions that I used then have been changed. In particular, technological hurdles have hindered the replacement of ossia staves with smaller notations of manuscript differences.

Further Resources for Favus distillans

• Hildegard of Bingen, Symphonia, ed. Barbara Newman (Cornell Univ. Press, 1988 / 1998), pp. 234 and 309.
• Flanagan, Sabina. “Die Heiligen Hildegard, Elisabeth, Ursula und die elftausend Jungfrauen.” In Tiefe des Gotteswissens - Schönheit der Sprachgestalt bei Hildegard von Bingen. Ed. Margot Schmidt. Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: frommann-holzboog, 1995, pp. 209-22.
• Flynn, William. “Hildegard (1098-1179) and the Virgin Martyrs of Cologne.” In The Cult of St Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins. Ed. Jane Cartwright. University of Wales Press, 2016, pp. 93-118.
• Walter, Peter. “Die Heiligen in der Dichtung der hl. Hildegard von Bingen.” In Hildegard von Bingen, 1179-1979. Festschrift zum 800. Todestag der Heiligen. Ed. Anton Ph. Brück. Mainz: Selbstverlag der Gesellschaft für mittelrheinische Kirchengeschichte, 1979, pp. 211-37, at 223-29.
• For a discography of this piece, see the comprehensive list by Pierre-F. Roberge: Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) - A discography