Mathias sanctus

Hymn / Sequence for St. Mathias [Feb. 24 / May 24] (R 474vb-475ra) Back to Table of Contents
by Hildegard of Bingen

1a. Mathias, sanctus per electionem, vir preliator per victoriam, ante sanguinem Agni electionem non habuit, sed tardus in scientia fuit quasi homo qui perfecte non vigilat. 1b. Donum Dei illum excitavit, unde ipse pre gaudio sicut gygas in viribus suis surrexit, quia Deus illum previdit sicut hominem quem de limo formavit cum primus angelus cecidit, qui Deum negavit. 2a. Homo qui electionem vidit— ve, ve, cecidit! Boves et arietes habuit, sed faciem suam ab eis retrorsum duxit et illos dimisit. 2b. Unde foveam carbonum invasit, et desideria sua osculatus in studio suo, illa sicut Olimpum erexit. 3a. Tunc Mathias per electionem divinitatis sicut gygas surrexit, quia Deus illum posuit in locum quem perditus homo noluit. O mirabile miraculum quod sic in illo resplenduit! 3b. Deus enim ipsum previdit in miraculis suis cum nondum haberet meritum operationis, sed misterium Dei in illo gaudium habuit, quod idem per institutionem suam non habebat. 4a. O gaudium gaudiorum quod Deus sic operatur, cum nescienti homini gratiam suam impendit, ita quod parvulus nescit ubi magnus volat, cuius alas Deus parvulo tribuit. 4b. Deus enim gustum in illo habet qui seipsum nescit, quia vox eius ad Deum clamat sicut Mathias fecit, qui dixit: O Deus, Deus meus, qui me creasti, omnia opera mea tua sunt. 5. Nunc ergo gaudeat omnis ecclesia in Mathia, quem Deus in foramine columbe sic elegit. Amen.

1a. Matthias, chosen as a saint— a warrior through victory— yet not before the Lamb’s bloodshed was he chosen, but late to conscience came, as starts the man who did not keep the watch full wakefully. 1b. God’s gift shook him awake, and then for joy he leapt, a giant in his strength, for God foresaw this man just like that Man whom once from mud he formed when first the angel fell who God denied. 2a. That human saw his chance, his chosenness— alas! He fell! The oxen and the rams he had, but from their sacrifice he turned his face and sent them empty away. 2b. And so he wandered in the pit of coal, his own desires raised— sealed with a kiss— with zeal he mounts Olympus. 3a. And then Matthias—the Godhead’s choice— arose, a giant, for God set him into that place that fallen man disdained. O wonder of wonders that thus in him shines forth! 3b. For God foresaw this man within his wonders— he had not yet the merit of his work, but God’s mysterious way took joy in him, though this was not what he had planned. 4a. O joy of joys, that God would so enact to spend his grace upon a man who knew it not— the little child knows not where the grown man flies, yet to the little one God gave his wings. 4b. For God enjoys the man who thinks not of himself, because his voice cries out to God, as did Matthias when he said: “O God, my God, who didst create me, all my works are thine.” 5. Therefore rejoice now, all the Church, in St. Matthias, whom God chose thus in the dove’s cleft rock. Amen.

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
Setting: primarily syllabic
Range: D below the final to C an octave above

Mathias sanctus has generally been categorized as a hymn, and it is listed that way in the Riesencodex manuscript (fol. 474vb). Hildegard scholars Barbara Newman and Margot Fassler, however, consider it to be a sequence. A medieval hymn contains verses that are sung to a single melody, while a sequence consists of paired versicles with matching melodies.

Hildegard’s treatment of both these genres is fluid, meaning that she both follows and departs from their standard conventions. In the case of Mathias sanctus, the paired verses (1a,1b etc.) are challenging to phrase. Longer phrases make for a more hymn-like format, but it is closer to a sequence when the phrases are short. There are also anomalous melodic segments that do not conform neatly to either pattern.

My first version of this piece aimed to phrase the verses as paired, as per the sequence form. While this worked in many cases, it ran into roadblocks, and it also created very short phrases that (to me) seemed out of character for Hildegard. In the end I made the decision to revise it with longer phrases, which aligns more with the format of the hymn. This is by no means a definitive interpretation, and performers should feel free to follow the transcription or break down some of the longer segments into shorter ones.

In her book, Innovation and Inventio in the Performance of Medieval Music, Angela Mariani discourages rigid adherence to formulaic interpretations of medieval song and encourages singers (and instrumentalists) to thoughtfully interpret the music, sometimes in innovative ways, so as to create a convincing performance. Her advice in the case of this hymn/sequence is pertinent. As the eminent musicologist Timothy McGee advises, we have no way of knowing what medieval music sounded like. In the case of Hildegard, phrasing usually follows certain patterns, such as the use of key modal tones and other gestures, but not always. There is much that is open to interpretation.

There are several other interesting features in this work. One is the use of a descending fifth as a phrase opener. Hildegard more typically employs the ascending fifth for this purpose. The other is that there are quite a lot of signed B flats in the source. Many of these occur when the melody transitions from C as the focal point to F, and often when B ascends to C. Though our editions do not add editorial ficta, in this case it is probably safe to say the flat should be added in identical melodic motives, even when it is not signed in the source. Also, it should be retained when the pitch B either repeats or there are two iterations of it in very close proximity. As is always the case with Hildegard’s C pieces, B is never flat in the upper register. G is also used as a phrase marker here, and of course, there is the odd phrase that begins on D.

Further Resources for Mathias sanctus

• Hildegard of Bingen, Symphonia, ed. Barbara Newman (Cornell Univ. Press, 1988 / 1998), pp. 198-203 and 298-300.
• Margot Fassler, “Volmar, Hildegard, and St. Matthias,” in Judith A. Peraino, ed., Medieval Music in Practice, Studies in Honor of Richard Crocker. Miscellanea 7 (Middleton, WI and Münster: American Institute of Musicology, 2013), pp. 85–109.
• For a discography of this piece, see the comprehensive list by Pierre-F. Roberge: Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) - A discography

Quia felix puericia

Psalm antiphon for St. Rupert [May 15] (R 471r) by Hildegard of Bingen Back to Table of Contents

Quia felix puericia in laudabili Ruperto ad Deum anhelavit et mundum reliquit, ideo ipse in celesti armonia fulget et ideo etiam angelica turba Filium Dei laudando concinit.

It was a happy childhood for praiseworthy St. Rupert, that yearned for God and left the world behind, and so in heav’nly harmony he gleams, and so th’ angelic band resounds to praise the Son of God.

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



Note: The recording above pairs this antiphon with the Magnificat (the Gospel Canticle at Vespers).

Transcription and Music Notes
by Beverly Lomer

Mode: E
Range: D below the final to E an octave above the final
Setting: syllabic and pneumatic

This is a short, straightforward antiphon in E mode. It is found only in the Riesencodex manuscript. The setting is not complicated, and it is one of the few songs in which Hildegard employs only the final and the fifth of the mode as grammatical devices. This means that she does not move the tonal center. Phrases are either outlined entirely by the final or the fifth (B), or they begin with one tone and end with the other.

Further Resources for Quia felix puericia

• Hildegard of Bingen, Symphonia, ed. Barbara Newman (Cornell Univ. Press, 1988 / 1998), pp. 192-3 and 294-5.
• Hildegard of Bingen, Two Hagiographies: Vita sancti Rupperti confessoris; Vita santi Dysibodi episcopi. ed. Christopher P. Evans, Intro. and trans. Hugh Feiss, O.S.B. (Dallas Medieval Texts no. 11; Peeters, 2010), pp. 84-85.
• For a discography of this piece, see the comprehensive list by Pierre-F. Roberge: Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) - A discography

O Ierusalem

Sequence for St. Rupert [May 15] (D 164v [fragment], R 476vb-477rb) Back to Table of Contents
by Hildegard of Bingen

1a. O Ierusalem, aurea civitas ornata regis purpura: lb. O edificatio summe bonitatis, que es lux numquam obscurata: 1c. Tu enim es ornata in aurora et in calore solis. 2a. O beata puericia que rutilas in aurora, et o laudabilis adolescentia que ardes in sole. 2b. Nam tu, o nobilis Ruperte, in his sicut gemma fulsisti, unde non potes abscondi stultis hominibus sicut nec mons valli celatur. 3a. Fenestre tue, Ierusalem, cum topazio et saphiro specialiter sunt decorate. 3b. In quibus dum fulges, o Ruperte, non potes abscondi tepidis moribus, sicut nec mons valli coronatus rosis, liliis et purpura in vera ostensione. 4a. O tener flos campi et o dulcis viriditas pomi et o sarcina sine medulla, que non flectit pectora in crimina. 4b. O vas nobile, quod non est pollutum nec devoratum in saltatione antique spelunce, et quod non est maceratum in vulneribus antiqui perditoris: 5. In te symphonizat Spiritus sanctus, quia angelicis choris associaris et quoniam in Filio Dei ornaris, cum nullam maculam habes. 6. Quod vas decorum tu es, o Ruperte, qui in puericia et in adolescentia tua ad Deum anhelasti in timore Dei et in amplexione caritatis et in suavissimo odore bonorum operum. 7. O Ierusalem, fundamentum tuum positum est cum torrentibus lapidibus, quod est cum publicanis et peccatoribus qui perdite oves erant, sed per Filium Dei invente, ad te cucurrerunt et in te positi sunt. 8. Deinde muri tui fulminant vivis lapidibus, qui per summum studium bone voluntatis quasi nubes in celo volaverunt. 9. Et ita turres tue, o Ierusalem, rutilant et candent per ruborem et per candorem sanctorum et per omnia ornamenta Dei, que tibi non desunt, o Ierusalem. 10. Unde vos, o ornati et o coronati qui habitatis in Ierusalem, et o tu Ruperte, qui es socius eorum in hac habitatione, succurrite nobis famulantibus et in exilio laborantibus.

1a. Jerusalem, O golden city, in royal purple clad: 1b. O edifice of Good supreme, you are a light that’s never dimmed: 1c. For you are decked with dawn and sunshine’s warmth. 2a. O childhood blest that shines at dawn, O honored youth that burns in the sun. 2b. For you, O noble Rupert, have gleamed in these like a gem, so that you can’t be hid by fools, as a mount cannot be covered by a vale. 3a. Your windows, O Jerusalem, with topaz and sapphire especially are set. 3b. As you, O Rupert, glint in them, you can’t be hid by lukewarm ways—as not the mountain by the vale, with roses, lilies, purple crowned to show the truth. 4a. O tender flower of the field, O apple’s sweet viridity, O weight without pith that does not sink the heart to sin. 4b. O noble vessel, neither dirtied nor devoured by the ancient cavern’s dance, nor weakend by the ancient wrecker’s wounds: 5. In you the Holy Spirit symphonizes, for you’re joined to the angels’ choirs and spotless now, adorned for the Son of God. 6. How beautiful your vessel, O Rupert! In childhood and in youth you yearned for God with fear, embracing divine Love with good works’ sweetest scent. 7. O Jerusalem, your foundation’s set with a waterfall of stones— that is, with publicans and sinners, the sheep that once were lost but now are found by the Son of God—to you they’ve flocked and now in you are set. 8. And now your walls, they flash with living stones that flew with good will’s highest zeal like clouds across the sky. 9. And so your towers, O Jerusalem, glint red with their blood, gleam white with the shine of the saints and all the ornaments of God— they’re yours forever, O Jeruslaem. 10. So you, adorned and crowned who dwell within Jerusalem, and you, O Rupert, their comrade in this dwelling place— come to our aid as we in exile labor and attend.

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: G
Range: D below the final to G an octave above
Setting: primarily syllabic

This lengthy sequence in honor of St. Rupert is set in the G mode, not a usual tonal center for Hildegard. Phrasing is open to interpretation in some cases, as Hildegard both adheres to the conventions of the sequence form and departs from them as well. In some instances, the verses open with similar melodic gestures, and in others, not so much. In some cases, the phrases end similarly, and this can serve as a guide as well. The intersection of the text and melody needs to be taken into account, but as neither the text or the melody is complicated, there can be more than one interpretation.

In the transcription there are several cases where the phrases are short, with a tick barline at the end of the second or third line. In these cases, both the shorter phrasing and the longer phrasing are acceptable options.

There is only a fragment of this work in Dendermonde, so the major part of the transcription is taken from Riesencodex.

Though we do not make editorial additions, such as ficta, there are several places where the melody moves from F to B and then ascends immediately to C. There are no signed flats, so one wonders if the intent is to sing or play the natural B. Performers will have to choose how to handle the tritone.

Further Resources for O Ierusalem

• Hildegard of Bingen, Symphonia, ed. Barbara Newman (Cornell Univ. Press, 1988 / 1998), pp. 192-7 and 295-8.
• Hildegard of Bingen, Two Hagiographies: Vita sancti Rupperti confessoris; Vita santi Dysibodi episcopi. ed. Christopher P. Evans, Intro. and trans. Hugh Feiss, O.S.B. (Dallas Medieval Texts no. 11; Peeters, 2010), pp. 20-25 and 78-83.
• Madeline H. Caviness, “Artist: ‘To See, Hear, and Know All at Once,’” in Barbara Newman, ed., Voice of the Living Light: Hildegard of Bingen and Her World (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998), pp. 110–124, at 118-119.
• Sabina Flanagan, Hildegard of Bingen, 1098-1179. A Visionary Life (2nd ed.; Routledge, 1998), pp. 121-5.
• For a discography of this piece, see the comprehensive list by Pierre-F. Roberge: Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) - A discography

O beatissime Ruperte

Psalm antiphon for St. Rupert [May 15] (D 164v, R 471ra) by Hildegard of Bingen Back to Table of Contents

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!

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: 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

O felix apparicio

Psalm antiphon for St. Rupert [May 15] (D 164v, R 471ra) by Hildegard of Bingen Back to Table of Contents

O felix apparicio, cum in amico Dei Ruperto flamma vite choruscavit, ita quod caritas Dei in corde eius fluxit, timorem Domini amplectens. Unde etiam agnitio eius in supernis civibus floruit.

O happy gleam appearing— in Rupert, friend of God, the flame of life has flashed so that God’s love has flowed within his heart, the Fear of the Lord embracing. So now his true identity, revealed among the citizens above, has bloomed.

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: E
Range: B below the final to G an octave and a third above
Setting: Primarily syllabic with a lengthy melisma to conclude

In this antiphon to St. Rupert the Confessor, Hildegard employs a fairly standard method of demarcating phrases: primarily the final and the fifth (E and B). The opening (salutation) is outlined by the final. The next phrase begins with it and ends on B, as does the next. This gives a feeling of suspension rather than a conclusion.

In the second and third lines of the transcription, Ruperto is placed with flamma vite. It could, however, go with the previous line if one prefers. The next three phrases are short, the first two of which are punctuated by E, while the third creates a sense of incompleteness, ending on B. On page two of the transcription, I elected to begin lines 1 and 4 with the leap from B to E in the first case, and from E to B in the second. The conclusion is divided into phrases similarly to the previous material.

There are quite a few differences between Dendermonde and Riesenkodex. The ending on D in R should be disregarded and Dendermonde followed, as Hildegard always concludes on the modal final. Although the translation does not include a psalm cadence, we have marked this antiphon as a psalm antiphon because D includes the rubric for the cadence (EUOUAE) in the margin, but it is not neumed there and is completely missing in R.

Further Resources for O felix apparicio

• Hildegard of Bingen, Symphonia, ed. Barbara Newman (Cornell Univ. Press, 1988 / 1998), pp. 190-91 and 293-94.
• For a discography of this piece, see the comprehensive list by Pierre-F. Roberge: Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) - A discography

O presul vere civitatis

Sequence for St. Disibod [Feast, July 8; Translation, Sept. 8]Back to Table of Contents
(D 162v-163r, R 475v) by Hildegard of Bingen

1a. O presul vere civitatis, qui in templo angularis lapidis ascendens in celum, in terra prostratus fuisti propter Deum. lb. Tu, peregrinus a semine mundi, desiderasti exul fieri propter amorem Christi. 2a. O mons clause mentis, tu assidue pulcram faciem aperuisti in speculo columbe. 2b. Tu in absconso latuisti, inebriatus odore florum, per cancellos sanctorum emicans Deo. 3a. O culmen in clavibus celi, quod propter perspicuam vitam mundum vendidisti: hoc certamen, alme confessor, semper habes in Domino. 3b. In tua enim mente fons vivus clarissima luce purissimos rivulos eduxit per viam salutis. 4a. Tu magna turris ante altare summi Dei, et huius turris culmen obumbrasti per fumum aromatum. 4b. O Disibode, in tuo lumine per exempla puri soni membra mirifice laudis edificasti in duabus partibus per Filium hominis. 5a. In alto stas, non erubescens ante Deum vivum, et protegis viridi rore laudantes Deum ista voce. 5b. O dulcis vita et o beata perseverantia que in hoc beato Disibodo gloriosum lumen semper edificasti in celesti Ierusalem. 6a. Nunc sit laus Deo in forma pulcre tonsure viriliter operante. 6b. Et superni cives gaudeant de his qui eos hoc modo imitantur.

1a. O prelate of the true City, in the temple of the cornerstone you mount up to heaven, on earth layed low for God. 1b. A stranger to the worldly seed, you yearned to be an exile for the love of Christ. 2a. O mountain of the cloistered mind, you patiently disclosed the beautiful face in the mirror of the dove. 2b. You retired in the hidden nook, entranced by the flowers’ perfume, glittering for God through the lattice of the saints. 3a. O vault for the keys of heaven, for the clear-eyed life you sold off the world— this contest, sweet confessor you keep forever in the Lord. 3b. For in your mind the living Fount with brightest light brought forth the clearest streams along salvation’s way. 4a. You are a mighty tower before supreme God’s altar—your tower’s top you’ve shrouded in an aromatic cloud. 4b. O Disibod, within your light and through your modelling of purest sound you’ve built up limbs of wondrous praise on either side by the Son of Man. 5a. You stand on high and unashamed before the living God: with verdant moisture you protect those praising God with such a voice. 5b. O life so sweet, O blessed perseverance: with blessed Disibod you’ve ever built a glorious light in Jerusalem above. 6a. Now God be praised in the tonsure’s beauty, working manfully! 6b. And let the citizens above rejoice for those who follow them in this way.

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 builds on the theological themes that Hildegard first articulated in the antiphon, O mirum admirandum, and the responsory, O viriditas digiti Dei, to imagine St. Disibod straddling the line between time (in which he was the historical founder of the Disibodenberg) and eternity (where he models sanctity for the monastic community from his place now in the heavenly Jerusalem). The first two strophe pairs focus on Disbod’s earthly life: he was “a stranger to the worldly seed” (1b) both as a monk vowed to chastity and as a bishop exiled from his see by political malcontents. After sojourning from Ireland, he settled as a hermit upon the mountain slopes of Disibodenberg—nestled among the aromatic herbs, his “hidden nook” left him open to mount to heaven in contemplation. The imagery of strophes 2a-2b, common to the antiphon and responsory, also draws on the Song of Songs, with the monk’s cell sharing it latticed window-panes with the Bride (Song of Songs 2:9), a dove nestled among the rocks (Song of Songs 2:14; the “mirror of the dove” is also an image for contemplation in Hildegard’s antiphon for St. John, O speculum columbe, and she alludes to it in her later responsory for St. Disibod, O felix anima). Strophes 3a-3b extend the imagery of Disibod’s hermitic contemplation, as the divine light suffuses his mind, flowing like the mountain streams that bring his monastic garden into bloom (cf. O viriditas digiti Dei).

Strophes 4a-4b then begin our transition from Disibod’s earthly monastic cell to his place in heaven, as his mountain home becomes a tower, its top enwreathed with swirls of incense and echoing with the chanted praises that formed the rhythm of his monastic life. As Barbara Newman notes (Symphonia, p. 293), the “two sides” (duabus partibus) allude to the two halves of the monastic choir, separated for singing in antiphony. The swirls of incense, moreover, are echoed in the intricacies of the musical parallelism in these two verse pairs. In the text above, I have broken up the lines to highlight the musical parallels between each verse: Tu magna turris (4a) is nearly same melody as O Disibode (4b), while ante altare summi Dei et huius turris (4a) is nearly the same melody as in tuo lumine per exempla puri soni (4b). The transcription, meanwhile, presents a different way of reading the musical grammar, with longer phrases framed by the final tone (C).

The remainder of the sequence then celebrates Disibod’s place standing on high (5a), his glittering mind shedding heavenly light from Jerusalem above (5b) to share with his monastic community below. That community, meanwhile, must strive to follow his example (per exempla puri soni, 4b; de his qui eos hoc modo imitantur, 6b), particularly through keeping up the monastic regimen of the Opus Dei, “the Work of God” of singing the liturgy of the hours each day. (See the commentary on O mirum admirandum for the role of Hildegard’s compositions for St. Disibod in admonishing reform of that monastic community.) Of particular note here is the intriguing grammatical ambiguity of strophe 6a: the final participle (operante) may be taken either in reference to God (Deo), indicating that God is at work in the beauty of the monastic tonsure (metonymy for the monastic life); or it may be taken in reference to the tonsure’s form (forma pulcre tonsure), indicating that God is praised through the manful work of the monastic life.

As with Hildegard’s equally showstopping sequence for St. Rupert, O Ierusalem, architectural metaphors dominate much of the piece. This may reflect Hildegard’s experience both with the near constant construction projects at the Disibodenberg as she was growing up (with the monastery church finally being completed and dedicated in the 1140s) and with rebuilding the ruins of the Rupertsberg as she moved her community there in the 1150s. As Barbara Newman has noted (Symphonia, p. 293), the theological background for the architectural imagery takes us back to 1 Peter 2, which is one of several New Testament passages that describe Christ as “the cornerstone” once rejected by the builders (1 Peter 2:7, citing Psalm 117[188]:22). From that the scriptural author articulates the idea of Christians “as living stones built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). In Hildegard’s hands, the living stones of Disibod’s celestial tower are the monks of his monastery, joining their songs of praise with his verdant voice in heaven.

Transcription and Music Notes
by Beverly Lomer

Mode: C
Range: E below the final to C an octave above
Setting: Primarily syllabic

This sequence for St. Disibod, the patron saint of the monastery at Disibodenberg where Hildegard began her religious life, consists of six, two-part verses. There is a difference in the verse order in the sources. In Dendermonde, after Verse 4a, it appears as though the scribe begins Verse 4b, with part of the setting of the words, O Disibode. What follows next is a different order than what appears in Riesenkodex: 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 4b. The order in R is correct, and therefore, the transcription follows it.

The use of typical modal tones to demarcate phrases is not consistent in this song. All verses, except 2a and 2b, begin with C, the modal final. Typically, Hildegard also employs the final or the fifth to punctuate and hence identify phrases. Here, however, phrases open and close with alternative pitches. In verses 1a and 1b, for example, the sections open with C and then shift to A as the primary grammatical marker. As the sequence progresses, we see other tones, such as D and G, assuming the role of phrase punctuation. As always, determining phrasing in Hildegard’s works involves a negotiation between text and melody, and in this transcription, the melody sometimes gives way to text sense in phrasing.

In the sequence form, whose conventions Hildegard often does not strictly adhere to, the melodic lines (especially the first line) between and the a and b sections of each versicle are intended to match. In the transcription, we attempt generally to phrase in accordance with this protocol. However, there are exceptions. The length of the paired versicles is not always the same. In the first verse, the a section is longer. The salutation, O presul vere civitatis, should not be broken, and so the first line of the b section has been similarly phrased. There are parallel melodic segments that begin on E (1a: vere civitatis and 1b: a semine mundi), but to try to match all of that would involve making phrases too short and ‘choppy’ in many cases. Therefore, again referring to the example of Verse 1, the second phrase begins on A, the third on the E fragment, and then the last on the A melody. The reader will note that the basic melody is sometimes ornamented or elaborated. Therefore, the matching is not exact.

While we generally prioritize melody over text, in some cases doing so would have been too much of a disruption of the text. Because Hildegard was not always “metronomically” consistent in her construction of melody, text, and the melody/text alignment, phrasing is often negotiable. Performers using this score, as always, are welcome to make their own adjustments.

Hildegard’s C pieces (as well as her A pieces) are often considered to be transpositions, and this results in the appearance of Bb. As we have mentioned in our Commentary and Notes to other Symphonia songs, Hildegard’s treatment of the Bb is somewhat idiosyncratic. There are differences between the sources, and the signed flat often appears after iterations of B with no flat. Performers in that era knew when flats should be added, such as to prevent a tritone, and so they were not noted in some cases. In our transcriptions, though we do not add editorial ficta, performers should note that in the descents from F to B, a flat should be added. Flats might also be added for repeated gestures in which the Bb is signed. That said, there is often a question as to how long the flat should be retained. Keeping it to the end of the line (as in a transcription) is not a viable solution, as the manuscript sources do not identify phrases - the notes continue in a stream across the parchment folio. Finally, Hildegard’s Symphonia pieces never employ Bb in the upper register, so the B a seventh above the final will always be natural.

Further Resources for O presul vere civitatis

• Hildegard of Bingen, Symphonia, ed. Barbara Newman (Cornell Univ. Press, 1988 / 1998), pp. 186-189 and 292-293.
• Leigh-Choate, Tova; Flynn, William T.; and Fassler, Margot E. “Hildegard as Musical Hagiographer: Engelberg, Stiftsbibliothek MS. 103 and Her Songs for Saints Disibod and Ursula.” In A Companion to Hildegard of Bingen. Ed. Beverly Mayne Kienzle et al. (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2014), pp. 193-220.
• For a discography of this piece, see the comprehensive list by Pierre-F. Roberge: Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) - A discography

O felix anima

Responsory for St. Disibod [Feast, July 8; Translation, Sept. 8] (R 470vb) Back to Table of Contents
by Hildegard of Bingen

R. O felix anima cuius corpus de terra ortum est, quod tu cum peregrinatione huius mundi conculcasti: R. Unde de divina racionalitate, que te speculum suum fecit, coronata es. V. Spiritus sanctus etiam te ut habitaculum suum intuebatur. R. Unde de divina racionalitate, que te speculum suum fecit, coronata es. Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui sancto.

R. O happy soul, whose body from the earth has sprung and with this worldly pilgrimage you’ve trod it down: R. So with rationality divine— which made you as its mirror— you have been crowned. V. The Holy Spirit, too, has looked to you to be its habitation. R. So with rationality divine— which made you as its mirror— you have been crowned. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

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 is one of two pieces for St. Disibod (the other is the antiphon, O beata infantia) that Hildegard likely composed later in her life, to round out her initial set of three compositions for the founder of the Disibodenberg. They do not appear in the earliest record of those three compositions, Hildegard’s letter of the early 1150’s (nr. 74r) to Kuno, the abbot of Disibodenberg (for more on that letter, see the commentary for O mirum admirandum); nor do they appear in the earlier Dendermonde manuscript of Hildegard’s music. It is thus likely that they date sometime after 1170, reflecting Hildegard’s renewed interest in the cult of St. Disibod, inspired by her composition of his saintly vita (for more on that text, see here). Indeed, both compositions crystallize elements found in Hildegard’s Life of St. Disibod, serving as musical syntheses of the prose text’s themes.

The first part of the responsory focuses on St. Disibod’s ascetic discipline of the flesh during his “worldly pilgrimage.” The concept of the blessed soul on pilgrimage in this world is, of course, an ancient image most famously articulated by St. Augustine of Hippo in The City of God. With St. Disibod, however, the metaphor is also a literal part of his life story: after his strict discipline as a bishop in his native Ireland proved too controversial for the people of his see, he was driven out, “and so, with a happy mind [leto animo] and for the sake of eternal life, he undertook the pilgrimage [peregrinationem] he had long desired” (Vita s. Dysibodi episcopi, ch. 12).^[1]

The repetendum (refrain), meanwhile, moves into Disibod’s interior life with the key image of the mirror of divine rationality. This reflects Hildegard’s anthropological preoccupations in her later years, found in both her last work, the Liber divinorum operum, and in briefer form even in the Life of St. Disibod itself. After narrating the events of Disibod’s death near the end of the vita, she launches into an extended discussion of human rationality and its operation through the knowledge of good and evil (scientia boni et mali)—the hallmark of the human person made in the image and likeness of God (Vita s. Dysibodi episcopi, ch. 38). This “complete knowledge” (plena scientia) distinguishes humans from the rest of creation and enables them to act as God acts and as God made them to act (quoniam Deus eum, ut secundum ipsum operaretur, creauit). The human conscience (scientia), therefore, becomes the mirror in which we discern with a God-given rationality what it is we ought and ought not to do. The sinful person can be overwhelmed by the sensations of his flesh and give in to them; but as Hildegard continues:

[The] blessed person desires to do what he does not taste in the flesh, and he asks for help from the Holy Spirit in order to gaze upon the mirror of holiness [in speculum sanctitatis]. Just as a person ponders his face in a mirror, in which it really is not, and, as far as he can, changes what he sees there that is unworthy, so a blessed man through faith desires to do good deeds to the consternation of the devil and against his flesh. Because he does not do what the flesh presents to him and so through hard and strenuous battles conquers himself with his desires, he will possess the brightness that the fallen angels had. (...) As the good angels look upon the face of the Father with praise, so blessed men doing good deeds in the mirror of faith [in speculo fidei] gaze upon the face of God in faith and always stand with him through the hardest struggles. For God so constituted creatures that through them human beings bring their works to completion.
     —Vita s. Dysibodi episcopi, ch. 41

In this responsory, Disibod’s ascetic discipline of the body sets the conditions for his contemplative crowning as a mirror of the divine. Based on the text alone, we would be tempted to see a stark dualism here, with Hildegard denigrating the flesh in favor of the happy soul. But the music tells a different story. The composition reaches the octave e above the final only once, in the second line on the word corpus (“body”), before launching into its first long melisma in the third line on terra (“earth”). The soul (anima) and the body’s origin from the earth (terra) are also bound together by the shared final cadence of lines 1 and 3 (F-G-A-A-G-F-G-F-E), which appears again in a modified version in line 7 on rationalitate (“rationality”) and in its original form in line 8 on fecit (“made”). Rather than denigrating the body, Hildegard here recognizes its importance as the vessel for the soul’s exercise of rationality.

St. Disibod’s mirror, finally, is a mirror of contemplation, and this aligns him with another of Hildegard’s favorite saintly role-models, St. John the Evangelist. Her antiphon for St. John, O speculum columbe, extols him as “the mirror of the dove,” a phrase that appears again in verse 2a of O presul vere civitatis, Hildegard’s sequence for St. Disibod. The dove connects to the Holy Spirit’s habitation in the verse of the responsory above, emphasizing that the itinerant Irish bishop settled into contemplation of the divine in his hermitage on the slopes of the Disibodenberg. Additional parallels between Disibod and St. John can be found in the ordering of the Dendermonde manuscript, where Hildegard’s three original pieces for Disibod are placed alongside her compositions for St. John;^[2] when the two later pieces were added to the set in the Riesencodex, the whole repertoire was also moved into a different section of the chant collection, devoted to bishops and confessors. Despite the different orderings of the two manuscripts, the thematic connections between St. Disibod and St. John remain.

Transcription and Music Notes
by Beverly Lomer

Mode: E
Range: C below the final to E an octave above
Setting: Syllabic, neumatic, melismatic

In this responsory, the setting is primarily neumatic and melismatic. Longer melismas occur on important words/phrases, such as de terra (“from the earth”) and intuebatur (“[the Holy Spirit] has looked”). This song displays quite a lot of repetition of melodic motives and compound neumes. Many of the phrases open with similar gestures.

The phrasing punctuation is fairly straightforward. Most phrases begin and end with either the final of the mode (E) or the secondary pitch, B (the fifth above the final). Hildegard moves to D on Unde, which begins the repetendum. This change sets it a bit apart.

Lines 4 and 5 of the transcription separate ortum est quod tu and cum peregrinatione, but they might also be considered as one long phrase with a breath, perhaps, at the end of line 4. We separated the phrases because cum begins with the same melodic fragment as appears in Line 2, and Hildegard typically (but not always) uses motivic repetition to signal the start of a new phrase. In this case, we have created a short followed by a long phrase, which might not be ideal, so performers might adjust either as one long phrase or to keep cum on line 4.

The last two lines of the piece are one phrase, but they are separated to avoid crowding the line. A tick barline has been inserted to indicate this.

Further Resources for O felix anima

• Hildegard of Bingen, Symphonia, ed. Barbara Newman (Cornell Univ. Press, 1988 / 1998), pp. 184 and 292.
• For a discography of this piece, see the comprehensive list by Pierre-F. Roberge: Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) - A discography

Footnotes

^[1] All quotes from this text have been adapted from Hildegard of Bingen, Two Hagiographies: Vita sancti Ruppert confessoris; Vita sancti Dysibodi episcope, ed. Christopher P. Evans, trans. Hugh Feiss (Dallas Medieval Texts and Translations, 11; Paris, Leuven, Walpole, MA: Peeters, 2010). ↩
^[2] Tova Leigh-Choate, William T. Flynn, and Margot E. Fassler, “Hildegard as Musical Hagiographer: Engelberg, Stiftsbibliothek MS. 103 and Her Songs for Saints Disibod and Ursula,” in A Companion to Hildegard of Bingen, ed. Beverly Mayne Kienzle et al. (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2014), pp. 193-220, esp. p. 202 and 207-208. ↩