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The University High School Band
The History and Theory of Music

Hildegard von Bingen

1098 - 1179 AD

There is the music of heaven in all things, and we have forgotten how to hear it until we sing." - Saint Hildegard

Saint Hildegard of Bingen was born in Germany in a small village along the Rhine River. She became interested in Christian spirituality and mysticism at a very young age; however, she suffered from poor health as a child and received little education.

Neverthless, she took vows a Benedictine nun and eventually was appointed an abbess, becoming highly accomplished in a number of different fields, including theology, poetry, science, medicine, and music, in which she was self-taught. Many of her works survive, including musical compositions. Most of these are similar in style to Gregorian Chants: monophonic modal melodies designed for use in liturgical rites and the daily life of a Benedictine abbey.

A prolific writer, her views of music were far more elevated than the antiquity period. "When the words come," she wrote, "they are merely empty shells without the music. They live as they are sung, for the words are the body and the music the spirit." In a development of the Pythagorean tradition, she said, "Every element has a sound, an original sound from the order of God; all those sounds unite like the harmony from harps and zithers."

Her Ordo Virtutum is one of the oldest surviving non-liturgical compositions. It is monophonic in texture and features a melismatic contour over a sustained note called a drone. The piece focuses on a female soloist, who represents the human soul. A chorus of female voices represent the virtues (Humility, Chastity, Charity, Faith, Knowledge of God, etc.) who implore the soul to embrace a life of holiness. A male voice represents the Devil, who tries to tempt the soul into a life of sinfulness. The Devil character only speaks or shouts; Saint Hildegard believed a creature so given in to evil would no longer be capable of music. This type of dramatic word painting was several centuries ahead of its time, more characteristic of seventeenth century opera than medieval monophony.

This performance of the Ordo Virtutum also includes a drone produced by a hurdy-gurdy, a medieval hand-cranked mechanical string instrument.

Ordo Virtutum Text

Compositions

Studium Divinitatis

O Virtus Sapientie

Ordo Virtutum

Hurdy-Gurdy

Open-Ended Question

How does Hildegard vary the instruments, texture, and other musical elements in the Ordo Virtutum to represent each character?