Introduction to the Lauds Antiphons for St. Ursula

by Nathaniel M. Campbell

Hildegard composed an elaborate series of eight antiphons for use in an expanded edition of the office of Lauds for the feast of St. Ursula and the 11,000 virgin-martyrs of Cologne. This is the largest single office that she composed and indicates the special value that she placed on developing the feast of St. Ursula into an important celebration affirming the life and mission of the religious women (virgins) of her monastery.

Reconstructed Order for the Office

The Table of Contents for our edition of Hildegard’s Symphonia follows the ordering found in the manuscripts and given in the modern editions. However, for reading or performance order, we highly recommend the reconstruction proposed by musicologist William Flynn, which makes the most sense out of the difficulties of the manuscript presentation. The following table summarizes this suggested order of service according to the likely usage of Hildegard’s time and place, showing which psalm or scriptural canticle would have been paired with each antiphon; as well as the corresponding order in each of the two manuscripts and in Barbara Newman’s edition of the Symphonia:

Antiphon	Psalm / Canticle	Dendermonde	Riesencodex	Newman
1. Studium divinitatis	Ps 92(93)	1 (167v)	1 (471vb)	1
2. Unde quocumque	Ps 99(100) (secular cursus) or Ps 117(118) (monastic cursus)	2 (167v)	2 (472ra)	2
3. De patria etiam earum	Ps 62(63)	3 (168r)	3 (472ra)	3
4. Deus enim in prima muliere presignavit	Benedicite (Dn 3:57-88, 56)	4 (168r)	4 (472ra)	4
5. Aer enim volat	Ps 148	5 (168r)	5 (472ra)	5
6. Deus enim rorem in illas misit	Ps 149	7 (168r)	7 (472rb)	7
7. Sed diabolus	Ps 150	8 (168r-v)	8 (472rb)	8
8. Et ideo puelle iste	Gospel: Benedictus (Lk 1:68–79)	6 (168r)	6 (472ra)	6

A typical Lauds office would normally only have five antiphons for the psalmody (which includes the canticle Benedicite taken from the expanded Septuagint / Vulgate text of the book of Daniel), plus an antiphon for the Benedictus, the Canticle of Zechariah from the Gospel of Luke. But Hildegard has composed a tightly woven series of eight antiphons that tell a coherent narrative, indicating that they should all go together in a single office. Flynn suggests that Hildegard invoked an alternative psalmody known to have been used sometimes in twelfth-century monastic communities, which expands the final psalm unit of Lauds (a combined singing of Pss 148-150) into its three individual psalms, each with its own antiphon. Furthermore, he believes it likely that, because the community of Augustinian nuns in Cologne dedicated specifically to the cult of St. Ursula followed what is known as a secular rather than monastic usage (cursus) for the divine office, Hildegard may have borrowed some slight modifications from the secular cursus in determining the psalms to be sung for festal Lauds.

The manuscript ordering for the antiphons may further be designed to allow for easy navigation when recycling a subset of them for Second Vespers, sung at the end of the day that would open with the Lauds office. A common monastic practice for Second Vespers of major feasts was to reuse the first, second, third, and fifth antiphons from Lauds. The placement of the Gospel antiphon after the fifth antiphon, rather than at the end of the series, helps demarcate this subset. Finally, this reconstruction allows the triumph of the Gospel antiphon, Et ideo puelle iste, to have the last word, rather than the invidiousness of Sed diabolus. In this way, the narrative produced by the antiphon series coheres with Hildegard’s overall ideas about the virginal mission shared between St. Ursula’s ancient band and her own monastery.

References

• 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.
• Hildegard of Bingen, Symphonia, ed. Barbara Newman (Cornell Univ. Press, 1988 / 1998), pp. 236 and 309-11.

Sed diabolus

Antiphon at Lauds (likely for Psalm 150) for St. Ursula and Companions Back to Table of Contents
(D 168r-168v, R 472rb) by Hildegard of Bingen

Sed diabolus in invidia sua istud irrisit, qua nullum opus Dei intactum dimisit.

But envious, the devil mocks, which leaves no work of God untouched.

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 D an octave above
Setting: syllabic, one melisma

This is a short piece in which D is the primary tonal marker. A is used secondarily. It is possible to consider that it is composed of two longer phrases, Lines 1-2 and 3-4 of the transcription, in which each phrase would begin and end on the modal final. There are discrepancies between the manuscripts. Line 3 begins with quod in D, but is corrected to qua in R.

A Note on Liturgical Usage

In line with the expanded psalmody we have proposed for this Office (see Introduction), we suggest that this antiphon would have been paired with Psalm 150, the last of the final trio of psalms at festal Lauds. William Flynn has suggested that the devil's mockery of the virgin martyrs becomes a mockery of the act of praising God to which all creation (God's work) is called in the psalm. This universalizes the specific story of Ursula and her companions (a move that Hildegard makes repeatedly in her compositions for them) and sets the stage for the final triumpth of the antiphon for the Gospel canticle, Et ideo puelle iste.

Further Resources for Sed diabolus

• 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

Et ideo puelle iste

Antiphon in evangelio (likely for the Benedictus at Lauds) for St. Ursula Back to Table of Contents
and Companions (D 168r, R 472rb) by Hildegard of Bingen

Et ideo puelle iste per summum virum sustentabantur, vexillate in regali prole virginee nature.

And so, these girls were by the Supreme Man sustained, to fly their flag with virgin nature’s Royal Son.

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

A Note on Liturgical Usage

The rubric for this antiphon in the manuscripts (in evangelio) indicates that it accompanies the Benedictus, or the Canticle of Zechariah from the Gospel of Luke (1:68–79). Because that Canticle would the final piece of psalmody in the Lauds service, this antiphon should properly come at the end of the sequence that Hildegard composed for the Office.

Further Resources for Et ideo puelle iste

• 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