De patria etiam earum

Antiphon at Lauds (likely for Psalm 62[63]) for St. Ursula and Companions Back to Table of Contents
(D 168r, R 472ra) by Hildegard of Bingen

De patria etiam earum et de aliis regionibus viri religiosi et sapientes ipsis adiuncti sunt, qui eas in virginea custodia servabant et qui eis in omnibus ministrabant.

And from their country, and from other places, too, men wise and of religion joined up with them, to keep them safe with virgin guard and serve them in all things.

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

Transcription and Music Notes
by Beverly Lomer

D mode
Range: G below final to E a ninth above
Setting: Syllabic and neumatic

This is a relatively straightforward short antiphon in D mode. All of the phrases are neatly outlined by the final. Hildegard begins the first four lines with a linked D to A motif. Readers will note that I have placed the et that falls between lines one and two of the transcription on line one in order to preserve the rhetorical repetition.

While we generally do not make recommendations for ficta in the transcriptions in their current/literal renditions of the source, it is worth noting the Bb on line four. Dendermonde does not sign the flat, but it appears in R. The presence of the flat creates a tritone, which is forbidden. The E might be an error, but it appears in both manuscripts. Singers would have two options - leave the E and sing B natural, or change E to D and sing Bb. While there is an F in the downward progression from the B, the melody continues in an upward direction to complete the singing of the word sapientes.

The differentia in R does not contain pitches.

Further Resources for Unde quocumque

• Hildegard of Bingen, Symphonia, ed. Barbara Newman (Cornell Univ. Press, 1988 / 1998), pp. 236 and 309-11.
• Berschin, Walter. “Eine Offiziendichtung in der Symphonia Hildegards von Bingen: Ursula und die Elftausend Jungfrauen (carm. 44).” In Hildegard of Bingen: The Context of her Thought and Art. Ed. Charles Burnett and Peter Dronke. London: The Warburg Institute, 1998, pp. 157-62.
• 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. “Reading Hildegard of Bingen’s Antiphons for the 11,000 Virgin-Martyrs of Cologne: Rhetorical ductus and Liturgical Rubrics.” Nottingham Medieval Studies 56 (2012), pp. 174-89.
• 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