1a. Columba aspexit per cancellos
fenestre, ubi ante faciem eius
sudando sudavit balsamum
de lucido Maximino.
1b. Calor solis exarsit
et in tenebras resplenduit, unde gemma
surrexit in edificatione templi
purissimi cordis benivoli.
2a. Iste, turris excelsa
de ligno Libani
et cipresso facta,
iacincto et sardio ornata est,
urbs precellens
artes aliorum artificum.
2b. Ipse, velox cervus,
cucurrit ad fontem
purissime aque
fluentis de fortissimo lapide,
qui dulcia
aromata irrigavit.
3a. O pigmentarii,
qui estis in suavissima viriditate hortorum
regis, ascendentes in altum quando
sanctum sacrificium
in arietibus perfecistis:
3b. Inter vos fulget
hic artifex, paries templi, qui desideravit
alas aquile, osculando
nutricem Sapientiam
in gloriosa fecunditate Ecclesie.
4a. O Maximine, mons et vallis es,
et in utroque alta edificatio appares,
ubi capricornus cum elephante
exivit, et Sapientia in deliciis fuit.
4b. Tu es fortis et suavis
in cerimoniis et in choruscatione altaris,
ascendens ut fumus
aromatum ad columpnam laudis:
5. Ubi intercedis pro populo
qui tendit ad speculum lucis,
cui laus est in altis.
1a. A dove peered in through latticed
window pane, and there before its face
the balsam dripped, distilled
from glinting Maximin.
1b. The warmth of sun blazed up
and sparkled in the darkness—then a budding gem
sprang up within the temple’s court—
his kindly, cryst’lline heart.
2a. A lofty tower, he,
of Libanus’ wood
and cypress,
with jacinth and with ruby set—
a city finer crafted than
the work of other craftsmen.
2b. A stag so swift,
he raced to reach
the purest waters’ font
that flows from firmest stone
to water
spices sweet.
3a. O crafters of perfume, of chrism spice,
who dwell amidst the sweet viridity
of the garden of the King, you mount on high
when the holy sacrifice
you have performed with rams.
3b. Among you shines
this artisan—the temple’s wall who longed
for eagle’s wings to kiss
his nursemaid Wisdom
in Mother Church’s glorious fecundity.
4a. O Maximin, both mount and vale,
in each a lofty shelter you appear
where mountain goat and elephant
together tread, and Wisdom relishes.
4b. Both strong and sweet you are
in sacred rites, the altar’s radiance,
ascending like an incense cloud
unto the plinth of praise:
5. Where for the people now you intercede
who strive unto the mirror of that light
whose praise resounds on high!
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
Mode: C
Range: G below the final to D an octave and a second above
Setting: neumatic/syllabic
In this long sequence for St Maximin, Hildegard generally employs the final and the fifth (G) as grammatical phrase markers. As is typical, however, other tones are used, though only infrequently.
One of the identifying characteristics of the sequence form is the melodic parallels within the verses. Again, Hildegard follows this protocol overall while also diverging from it at several points—a key characteristic of her compositional style.
In the transcription, we have had to make choices as to how to phrase the parallel melodies, as in some cases it was possible to create long phrases that also displayed parallel melodies. Verses 2a and 2b especially stand out. We made the decision to break the lines into short phrases so as to showcase as much of the melodic similarity as possible. Performers can choose to follow this division or to combine two or more phrases. As always, we have no definitive idea as to what Hildegard’s actual intentions were or how her music was performed. Therefore, as Angela Mariani and Timothy McGee advise, our decisions reflect our own interpretations, and the guiding principle needs to be effective performance.
In two cases (page 4 of the transcription) the phrases are too long for one staff. Therefore, a tick barline has been placed at the end of the phrase. Lines 3 and 4 comprise one phrase, as do lines 8 and 9.
Further Resources for Columba aspexit
Hildegard of Bingen, Symphonia, ed. Barbara Newman (Cornell Univ. Press, 1988 / 1998), pp. 212-14 and 302-303.
1a. O Euchari, in leta via ambulasti
ubi cum Filio Dei mansisti,
illum tangendo et miracula
eius que fecit videndo.
1b. Tu eum perfecte amasti
cum sodales tui exterriti
erant, pro eo quod homines erant,
nec possibilitatem habebant
bona perfecte intueri.
2a. Tu autem in ardenti amore plene caritatis
illum amplexus es,
cum manipulos preceptorum eius
ad te collegisti.
2b. O Euchari, valde beatus fuisti
cum Verbum Dei te in igne columbe imbuit,
ubi tu quasi aurora illuminatus es,
et sic fundamentum ecclesie edificasti.
3a. Et in pectore tuo choruscat dies
in quo tria tabernacula
supra marmoream
columpnam stant in civitate Dei.
3b. Per os tuum Ecclesia
ruminat vetus et novum vinum,
videlicet poculum sanctitatis.
4a. Sed et in tua doctrina Ecclesia
effecta est racionalis,
ita quod supra montes clamavit
ut colles et ligna
se declinarent ac mamillas illius sugerent.
4b. Nunc in tua clara voce
Filium Dei ora pro hac turba,
ne in cerimoniis Dei deficiat,
sed ut vivens holocaustum
ante altare Dei fiat.
1a. O St. Eucharius, you walked upon the blessed way
when with the Son of God you stayed—
you touched the man
and saw the wonders that he did.
1b. You loved him perfectly
while your companions trembled,
frightened by their mere humanity,
they did not share the opportunity
to gaze entirely upon the good.
2a. But you embraced him in the ardent love
of fullest charity—
the bundles of his sweet commands
you gathered to yourself.
2b. O St. Eucharius, so deeply blessed you were
when God’s Word drenched you in the fire of the dove—
illumined like the dawn
you laid the Church’s foundation.
3a. And in your breast burst forth the light of day—
the gleam in which three tents
upon the marble pillar
stand within the City of our God.
3b. For through your mouth the Church can savor
the wine both old and new—
the cup of sanctity.
4a. Yet in your teaching, too, the Church
embraced her rationality—
her voice cried out above the peaks
to call the hills and woods
to be laid low and suck upon her breasts.
4b. Now in your crystal voice
pray to the Son of God for this community,
lest it should fail in serving God,
but rather as a living sacrifice
might burn before God’s altar.
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 sequence is one of two pieces that Hildegard wrote to celebrate St. Eucharius, the first bishop of Trier (for an introduction to St. Eucharius, see the notes for her responsory, O Euchari columba). As with many of her other compositions dedicated to saints, however, this one often reflects Hildegard’s own personality more than that of the saints themselves. In verse 1b, it is Eucharius’ intense and perfect love and devotion to the person of Christ that frees him from the fearful limitations that his mortal companions experience in trying to look upon the highest Good—reflective, perhaps, of the child-like joy and freedom from anxiety that Hildegard often reported feeling when bathed by the experience of the Living Light.[1]
Verse 2b goes on to invoke several characteristically Hildegardian images and themes: Eucharius’ reception of the Holy Spirit’s dove-borne fire at Pentecost “drenches” (imbuit) him with the Word of God in the same way that Hildegard herself often described the flooding of her heart and mind with that same Word—both the second person of the Trinity and the Scriptures that were his revelation. That flooding fire then gleamed like the dawn—Hildegard’s favorite image for both the entrance of Christ’s light into the world in the Incarnation, the womb of his Virgin Mother in bearing that light of the sun, and the apostolic Mother Church’s mission to bring that light to all the world. Thus, Eucharius’ apostolic mission to lay the foundation of the Church in Trier is one of dawning light over the Mosel river.
Musical connections across the first two verses strengthen the Christological nature of his mission. The same melodic phrase is used for the words possibilitatem in Verse 1b (the ability to gaze upon Christ’s goodness) and ecclesie edificasti in Verse 2b (“you laid the Church’s [foundation]”). It was thus Eucharius' opportunity to see and experience the Son of God in the flesh that allowed him to be a founder of the Church. Similarly, the phrase cum verbum in the line 2 of Verse 2b departs from the parallel melody in Verse 2a and instead follows the melody of ubi cum filio from the second line of Verse 1a. The two phrases mirror each other in both meaning and music: Eucharius dwells with God’s Son in Verse 1a and then the Word of God imbues Eucharius with the fire of the dove in Verse 2a.
Hildegard’s symbolist mind, deeply imbued with every resonant image of Scripture impressed from years of monastic reading and prayer, leaps next from that dawn light to the light of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8) in verse 3a, recalling also the inability of Eucharius’ companions to gaze fully upon that dazzling light. The three tents that Peter offered to build for the Transfigured Christ and his two mystical companions, Moses and Elijah, now gleam not on Mt. Tabor but upon a pillar in the heavenly City of God—the momentary Transfiguration of the Gospel now itself transformed into the eternal glory of the ascended Christ.
This marble pillar with its three tabernacles also recalls two tri-cornered pillars that appeared upon the Edifice of Salvation that Hildegard described in Part 3 of Scivias: the Pillar of the Word of God (Vision 4) and the Pillar of the Trinity (Vision 7). The former, near the northern corner of the Edifice, is the color of steel “with edges sharp as a sword” facing East, North, and South, which represent “the beginning of the knowledge of God through the divine Law;” “the gospel of My Son;” and “the profound and rich wisdom of the principal teachers (doctores), who through the fire of the Holy Spirit made known what was obscure in the Law and the prophets, and showed their fruition in the Gospels,” respectively (Scivias 3.4.6).[2] Of the three phases of salvation history delineated by this pillar, St. Eucharius would have belonged to the radiance that Hildegard saw echoing from the northern to the southern edge, in which she “saw apostles, martyrs, confessors and virgins, and many other saints, walking in great joy”—the faces between the flames on the right half of the pillar in the image accompanying this vision in the Rupertsberg manuscript. He may also have joined that final edge of teachers, as the sequence celebrates his teaching as the foundational endowment of the Church at Trier. As Hildegard again describes the doctores in whose company she is now numbered:
They touched on the outward content of the Scriptures in the work of the Father’s goodness, and sweetly ruminated on their mystical significance. (…) As the Gospel was spread, the wisdom of the saints broadened; they burned in the Holy Spirit, seeking It in depth so as to find through It the deepening of their understanding of the Word of God, strengthened by the faith of the Christian people. And so the sense of the Scriptures that went froth from the mouth of the holy teachers broadened too.
—Scivias 3.4.6 and .12
The second tri-cornered pillar appears at the west corner of the Edifice and represents the Trinity. The explication of this purple-black column with sharpened edges the color of steel relates the Trinity’s relationship to the course of salvation history and offers an extended and specific meditation on the apostolic mission of evangelization celebrated in this sequence devoted to the work of St. Eucharius. Each of this column’s razor-sharp edges cuts away a symbolic feature—dry straw, little wings, and decaying branches—that represent those who wander away from or reject the true knowledge of the Trinity—heretics, Jews, and pagans, respectively. The edges then become in ch. 7 the fire-producing flint-stone in an elaborate parable of God’s repeated mission of messengers and the violent, fiery punishment of those who dallied or failed. Of particular importance for today’s sequence in this parable’s explanation is the story it tells of Christ’s disciples and the early Church, ringing upon themes of fear and inadequacy, the coming of the Holy Spirit’s fire to remove that fear, and evangelization as the building of God’s city, founded upon his holy commandments:
But His disciples, while the Son was with them in the world in His body, were foolish and unknowing and unresponsive, slow to understand His words in the Spirit and to fulfill them in work. For they heard them only as in a dream; they were simple, timid and frightened, and had not yet been strengthened.
(…)
But after the Son of God had ascended to the Father, through the Son and according to His promise the Holy Spirit descended. (…) And because the apostles had been taught by the Son, the Holy Spirit bathed them in Its fire (in calore suo perfudit eos). (…) And the Holy Spirit took their human fear from them so ardently and so quickly that they became firm and not soft, and dead to all adversity that could befall them. (…)
And so, going forth, they made their way among the faithless people (…) and to these they announced the words of salvation and of the truth faith in Christ. (…) And they built the holy city of the commandments of God (sanctam civitatem praeceptorum Dei), thus rebuilding the city which that seducer the Devil had taken from them in Adam, and restored it to them in the faith that leads to salvation.
—Scivias 3.7.7
The ministries of “this holy city of the commandments of God”—the Church—occupy Hildegard’s attention in the last three verses of the sequence above. In verse 3b, Eucharius’ preaching of the Word of God is received by the Church, which then ruminates upon it—literally chewing upon the words of Scripture spoken from his mouth to receive nourishment. Hildegard then adapts the image of the old and new wines from Matthew 9:17 to the Old and New Testaments, to unite the scriptural Word of God with the eucharistic Word received in the holy chalice of communion.
The next verse reveals Hildegard’s awareness of the seasonal place of St. Eucharius’ feast day, which always falls within Advent, by adapting images drawn from the prophecies of Isaiah. In particular, she evokes the voice crying out in the wilderness and from a high mountain of Isaiah 40:1-9, promising the coming of God unto Jerusalem when “every mountain and hill shall be made low” (Is 40:4)—but now, as Barbara Newman notes, the hills and woods are laying down to suckle at the breast of Mother Church, “who nurses the world with the milk of doctrine, inverting the messianic promise of Isaiah 60:16” (Newman, Symphonia, p. 302). In teaching the fulfillment of that promise, St. Eucharius helped “the Church to be made rational” (Ecclesia effecta est racionalis), to embrace the Reason at the root of the Incarnate Word.
Finally, the sequence petitions Eucharius’ prayers for the community of monks that continues the ministry of the Church in Trier that he had established centuries before—a petition that their service before God’s altar should be quickened into the living, burning sacrifice of true worship. Drawing again from Hildegard’s discussion of the pillar of the Trinity:
When the old rituals failed and the new holiness arose, the worship of the Holy Trinity was most plainly proclaimed; for it was openly believed that the Heavenly Father sent His Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit, into the world. And the Son sought the glory of His Father and not His own, and disclosed the profound consolation of the Holy Spirit, as had been foretold; and thus it was hidden on no side, but was proclaimed both to the faithful, who abode in God’s work, and to the unbelievers, who stood outside the faith.
—Scivias 3.7.2
Transcription and Music Notes by Beverly Lomer
Mode: E
Range: C below the final to E an octave above the final
Setting: syllabic with some pneumatic elements
In this sequence, Hildegard stays mainly true to the form of repeated melody on the versicles, but as is typical, she does sometimes stray from it, as well. The final E and the fifth serve as the primary tonal markers to begin and/or end phrases. She does also on occasion end phrases on G and open them with A; for example, see lines 4 and 5 on page one of the transcription.
Due to Hildegard’s approach to musical grammar, please consider the following phrasing options:
There is a tick barline after ambulasti on the second line of page 1 of the transcription, as some might prefer to create a longer phrase combining the first two lines as a single opening. It would be difficult to perform, perhaps; but a breath, not a full pause, could be taken after line one.
In 3a, there is a tick barline after dies on the first line of that verse. In quo begins similarly to ruminat on line two of verse 3b. Since beginning a phrase with an A/G figure has already been established, moving in quo to the next line makes sense. For purposes of clarity and not crowding the line, a barline has been employed rather than moving the notes to the following line.
Verses 4a and 4b are somewhat irregular. Because 4b uses the E/G figure regularly to open phrases, I have placed a tick barline after ecclesia on line two of 4a. This allows for the option to open the phrase either with A/G or with E/G.
This piece contains a number of compound neumes. Where the compound figure includes individually ligated neumes, slurs have been added. When there is a single pitch included with the compound neume, no slurs have been included, indicating most likely an articulation on the single note.
Further Resources for O Euchari in leta via
Hildegard of Bingen, Symphonia, ed. Barbara Newman (Cornell Univ. Press, 1988 / 1998), pp. 208-10 and 301-302.
[1] See especially her description of this in her famous letter 103r to Guibert of Gembloux, Letter 103r, trans. Baird and Ehrman, The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen, vol. 2 (Oxford Univ. Press, 1998), p. 24. ↩ [2] Translation adapted from Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias, trans. Mother Columba Hart and Jane Bishop (Paulist Press, 1990); Latin text ed. Führkötter and Carlevaris, CCCM 43a (Turnhout: Brepols, 1978). ↩
R. O Euchari, columba
virtutem illius
in signis tibi dedit,
qui olim in medio rote
clamitavit:
R. Quem cum amplius
corporaliter non vidisti,
plena signa in umbra illius
perfecisti.
V. Et sic in pectore eius fulsisti
ac in cherubin sigillum fecisti.
R. Quem cum amplius
corporaliter non vidisti,
plena signa in umbra illius
perfecisti.
R. O St. Eucharius, the Dove
has granted unto you the power
in wondrous signs of him
who once amidst the wheel
cried out:
R. No longer did you see him
him in the flesh,
yet in his shadow you fulfilled
his wondrous signs.
V. And so you gleamed within his heart
and set a seal upon the cherubim.
R. No longer did you see him
him in the flesh,
yet in his shadow you fulfilled
his wondrous signs.
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, together with the sequences, O Euchari in leta via and Mathias sanctus, was likely inspired by Hildegard’s close working relationship with the monastery of St. Eucharius and St. Matthias in Trier. A former Roman colony and one of Germany’s oldest cities, Trier lies on the Mosel river, about 130 kilometers southeast of its confluence with the Rhine and about 100 kilometers southeast of Bingen. The monastery of St. Eucharius (which was rededicated in 1148 to St. Matthias) was an important center for the production and dissemination of copies of Hildegard’s works. Hildegard corresponded frequently with its abbots, and had a particularly close relationship with Abbot Ludwig, who provided her with assistance in the 1170s following the death her longtime secretary and provost, Volmar.[1]
Although the historical St. Eucharius likely founded the bishopric at Trier—the oldest in Germany—in the second half of the third century, medieval tradition held that he was, in fact, one of the seventy-two disciples of Christ commissioned in Luke 10 to spread the Gospel, and that he was dispatched by the Apostle Peter to evangelize Roman Gaul—for this reason, Hildegard could claim that Eucharius touched and saw the Lord in the flesh. In local lore, at least (as preserved in the late-medieval sequence, Almi colamus), it was thought that Eucharius was present at both the Last Supper and at Pentecost. He was believed to have founded the Church of St. John in the city, where he was first interred after his death on December 8; his relics were later transferred to the Abbey of St. Eucharius / St. Matthias, where they rest today.
These traditions help to illuminate the otherwise obscure imagery of this responsory. In particular, Hildegard seems to connect St. Eucharius with St. John the Evangelist. The Holy Spirit as dove appears in her antiphon for St. John, O speculum columbe, inspiring the Evangelist and visionary. Meanwhile, they both gleam (fulsisti here in the versicle; effulsisti in the responsory for St. John, O dulcis electe) because of their dearness to the Lord (recall that John is “the beloved disciple” who reclined at Jesus’ breast at the Last Supper—John 13:23). Finally, Hildegard invokes the mystical visionary language of Ezekiel’s vision of the cherubim and the four wheels (Ezekiel 10), which were commonly understood (via their reappearance as the four living creatures in the fourth chapter of John’s Apocalypse) as symbols for the four Evangelists.
Transcription and Music Notes by Beverly Lomer
Mode: E
Range: B below the final to G an octave and a third above
Setting: neumatic, melismatic
This piece is a responsory, but there are no specific indications in the source that delineates the verses and the response. There is only the capital E on the word Et on the second to last line of the transcription to tell us that this is in the form of a responsory.
This chant also displays a most unusual phrasing, departing from Hildegard’s use of the modal final and fifth as the primary grammatical markers in surprising ways. The issues begin on page 1, line 2 of the transcription. The first phrase, the salutation O euchari, is clearly outlined by the final E. Columba begins on D, an unusual choice. But it might be considered a connector note that signals that the entire first phrase/salutation should be O Euchari columba. One of the reasons for keeping line 2 as its own line is that line 5 starts with D and a similar melody.
Lines 3 and 4 on the same page might be considered one phrase, and a tick barline has been placed after line 4. The first two lines of page 2 present a somewhat similar situation. Quem cum amplius corporaliter begins and ends with the final, while the next phrase (non vidisti) begins on F before returning to the final. We have added a breath mark after amplius for ease of singing, but corporaliter should not be considered a separate phrase. Instead, it shares the melodic motif from the high D to the final used in the second half of page 1, line 5 (tibi dedit).
The final decisions here will be up to performers. If the tempo is quick it is possible to sing or play (on a wind instrument) long phrases, perhaps with catch breaths. The Otto Mueller Verlag square note edition makes different decisions on phrasing than we have done. In the end, as Angela Mariani, author of Innovation and Improvisation in the Performance of Medieval Music, advises, it is up to singers or instrumentalists to create a performance that works for them. Each one might be different.
Further Resources for O Euchari columba
Hildegard of Bingen, Symphonia, ed. Barbara Newman (Cornell Univ. Press, 1988 / 1998), pp. 206 and 300-301.
[1] For further details, see Nathaniel M. Campbell, “The Authorship and Function of the Chapter Summaries to Hildegard of Bingen’s Liber diuinorum operum,” The Journal of Medieval Latin 27:1 (2017), 69–106, at pp. 94-101 (accessible as PDF here). ↩
