| O beatissime Ruperte, qui in flore etatis tue non produxisti nec portasti vicia diaboli, unde naufragum mundum reliquisti: nunc intercede pro famulantibus tibi in Deo. Alleluia. |
O blessed Rupert! In the flower of your youth you neither sired nor suffered the devil’s vices as you left behind this shipwrecked world: Now intercede for those who minister for you in God. Alleluia! |
Transcription and Music Notes
by Beverly Lomer
by Beverly Lomer
Mode: D
Range: A below the final to F an octave and a third above
Setting: Mixture of syllabic, neumatic and one long melisma (conclusion)
The phrasing in this antiphon is generally straightforward, with phrases outlined by the final of the mode. When phrases do not employ the final for opening and closing, they employ the secondary modal tone, A, which is typical for chant in general in this era.
Readers will note that we have placed a tick barline on page 1, line 3 of the transcription. Although this makes for a long phrase connecting lines 2-3 (“qui in flore etatis tue”), it maintains the melodic structure in which lines 2-3 are an elaboration of the same melody as line 1.. Similarly, a tick barline has been placed at the end of page 2, line 1, to show that “reliquisti” belongs with “naufragum mundum.”
Interestingly, the Alleluia at the end of the piece begins with the pitch F but concludes traditionally with the final.
Further Resources for O beatissime Ruperte
- Hildegard of Bingen, Symphonia, ed. Barbara Newman (Cornell Univ. Press, 1988 / 1998), pp. 190 and 294.
- For a discography of this piece, see the comprehensive list by Pierre-F. Roberge: Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) - A discography