A Companion to Hildegard of Bingen

hildegard as musical hagiographer 219
the note E in its opening and, with one exception (marked B’), cadences
from the semi-tone above on E, often in combination with Group C. Group
C stresses the note h at its opening and cadences like Group B. Each group
appears in basic and elaborated forms.
The rhetorical development and musical unity of these three antiphons
suggests that they form part of the same unit (i.e. the lauds psalmody). The
fijinal psalm antiphon, Sed diabolus, provides a rhetorical counterexample
to the previous three antiphons, signaled by the use of the conjunction
sed. This antiphon frames the singing of Psalm 150, which ends, “Let every
spirit praise the Lord.”51 Its repetition thus forms a striking conclusion to
the psalmody, as the devil (a spirit) refuses the psalm’s injunction and
directly mocks the opus Dei, the singing of the Divine Offfijice itself.
While the psalmody ends with the devil in triumph (implying that
the martyrdom has taken place), this apparent triumph is overturned
by the hymn Cum vox sanguinis, which describes the voice of the martyrs’
blood as it rises to heaven and is heard and rewarded there, and also by
the Gospel antiphon (Et ideo), in which the martyrs are emblazoned (vexillate)
with Christ’s royal banner. The proposed order thus makes it possible
to perform the full antiphon series in its proper service (lauds) and in
a liturgical order that maintains the connections between the rhetorically
and musically related antiphons. The resulting series forms a more compelling
narrative than solutions found in modern editions and recorded
performances.
Conclusion
Hildegard’s songs complement her visionary writings, drawing upon,
expanding, and sometimes clarifying their imagery or theology.52 While
some songs may have been written originally as revelations without music,
many were likely composed as liturgical songs from the outset, to the
melodies recorded in Dendermonde and the Riesenkodex, or their like.
When heard or read in context within the Mass or Divine Offfijice, the songs
accumulate layers of meaning beyond Hildegard’s texts. Her vivid images
interact with the centuries-old symbolism of the liturgy to powerful efffect,
51 Ps. 150:6, Douay-Rheims; “omnis spiritus laudet Dominum.” Biblia Sacra Vulgata.
52 For a discussion of intertextuality in Hildegard’s work, see Beverly Kienzle and Travis
Stevens’s chapter in this volume, “Intertextuality in Hildegard’s Works: Ezekiel and the
Claim to Prophetic Authority,” pp. 137–62. See also Speaking New Mysteries, pp. 199–243.