UNIVERSITY OF = MINNESOTA

Symphonia Caritatis: The = Cistercian=20 Chants of Hildegard von Bingen

=85at God=92s admonition I paid a = visit to Mount=20 St. Disibod=85where I presented the following petition to all who dwelt = there: I=20 requested that our monastery, as well as the alms accruing therefrom, be = free=20 and clear from their jurisdiction, for the sake of the salvation of our = souls=20 and our concern for the strict observance of the Rule.[1]=20 - Hildegard von Bingen to her = congregation of nuns=20 (ca. 1170)

For = the past 20=20 years, the popular perception of Hildegard von Bingen in the United=20 States has been one of New Age feminist = prophet=20 whose songs and visions shout out the virtues of 21^st century = female=20 empowerment from the desert of a medieval patriarchal society.[2] Even the more serious graduate = studies=20 which focus on her use of feminine imagery tend to exclude many = significant=20 contextual details by referring to the same limited core sources.[3] Although far from stating this = is a bad=20 thing, the lack of diversity in sources, methodology and the conclusions = drawn=20 from their analyses has served to uphold an unbalanced depiction of = Hildegard=20 among students and performers of her music.[4]=20

It = was an=20 article by Nico biographer, = Richard=20 Witts, appearing in Early = Music which=20 asked scholars and fans to mind the context of Hildegard within the = scope of=20 twelfth-century reform.[5] In this article, Witts created = an=20 intuitive argument citing, among other things, numerous coincidences and = numerological conspiracy theories, to indicate that Hildegard may have = been created by the = Cistercians. While his argument was lacking = in much=20 concrete evidence, his intuition regarding a Cistercian connection is = closer to=20 the mark than has been previously acknowledged.

The = argument of=20 a Cistercian connection especially in regard to Hildegard=92s music has = fallen=20 short due to the perpetuation of such assumptions as: one, Hildegard = maintained=20 the Disibodenberg liturgy when she established her own communities at = the=20 Rupertsberg and Eibingen; two, Cistercian liturgical theory was already = fully=20 developed and strictly practiced in the Rhineland during Hildegard=92s = lifetime;=20 and three, Hildegard wrote only for her community for the sake of = educating her=20 nuns.[6] Mention of the Cistercians is = relegated=20 to the footnote as Hildegard scholars cite trends and tendencies on a = universal=20 level rather than examining the particulars of individual works. Never has there been a serious = comparative analysis between Hildegard=92s chant with contemporary = Cistercian=20 theory and, more importantly, practice.

What = I attempt=20 here is a re-evaluation of sources with a redirected focus on the last = decade of=20 her life beginning around 1170 and concluding with her death in = 1179. It is my intent to build upon = Witts=92=20 argument and present a case for a shared Cistercian liturgical practice = between=20 Hildegard and individual Cistercian communities. At the core of my argument is = the=20 assumption that Hildegard, acting with foresight was concerned for the = spiritual=20 care of her community in the years after her death. She feared that without her=20 intervention, the corrupting influences of her parent monastery at = Disibodenberg=20 and the lax clergy within her archdiocese of Mainz would lead her daughters away = from=20 salvation. To counter, she and her provost Volmar established a=20 =93Cistercian plan=94 sometime around 1170. =20 The objective of this plan was to establish political, = theological and=20 liturgical ties with trusted communities who might intercede on behalf = of=20 Hildegard=92s two houses at Rupertsberg and Eibingen.

The = effect of=20 their Cistercian plan is reflected musically in comparative analyses = between=20 Hildegard=92s chants with those found in contemporary Cistercian = antiphonals=20 composed for liturgical practice. =20 This approach will uncover a general trend of compositional = refinement in=20 Hildegard=92s chants toward the Cistercian aesthetic.[7]=20 My research demonstrates that the chants written prior to her move to = the=20 Rupertsberg in 1150 clearly extend beyond Cistercian liturgical = theory. Conversely it finds that those = perceived=20 to have been written in her later years do indeed conform to the = principles of=20 the Cistercian liturgy. = To be=20 clear, this is not to say that all of her chants are Cistercian and = therefore=20 acceptable by all Cistercian communities, but there is enough = compounding=20 evidence to support the argument that within her lifetime, the specific=20 Cistercian community of Villers found the practice of her chants=20 acceptable. Moreover, the = evidence=20 uncovered supports Witts=92 hypothesis that the liturgy practiced at the = Rupertsberg was Cistercian.

The = sources=20 considered for this study include Hildegard=92s extensive body of = correspondence=20 in order to provide the political context which is lacking in her Vita, her last and most vivid = treatise,=20 the Liber diuinorum operum = which=20 reflects her latest theological writings, and finally provide = comparative=20 analyses by using Hildegard=92s chants as found in the Dendermonde Codex = and those=20 found in contemporary 12^th century manuscripts of Cistercian = and=20 Benedictine provenance.

In = support of=20 my argument three fronts shall be addressed. First, the political = climate including contextual = background into the=20 Cistercian reform, the view of Hildegard=92s spiritual authority, as = well as her=20 strained relationships with her superiors in the archdiocese of = Mainz. These together serve as the = catalyst for=20 her Cistercian plan. The second front provides an overview of the Divine = Office=20 within the monastic cursus. =20 Attention will be focused on the hour of Matins with a = description of its=20 two most prevalent chant types, antiphons and responsories. = Understanding the=20 Divine Office is crucial in establishing the context and ideology behind = the=20 Cistercian liturgical reform. = The=20 third front provides detail of the main principles of the reform. From here examples will be = drawn from=20 chants composed by the Cistercian reformers in the mid-12^th = century=20 in order to demonstrate instances where they broke from their own = theory. In the following chapter = Cistercian=20 theory is applied to all of the chants which appear in the Dendermonde=20 Codex. Cross-referencing = these=20 chants with those known to have been composed earlier, confirms the = trend of=20 refinement in Hildegard=92s melodies. =20 The final chapter focuses on three of those chants, Spiritus sanctus uiuificans, = Karitas habundat, and Laus trinitati in relation to = Cistercian=20 theory as well as in Hildegard=92s own compositional sensibilities.

A Word about = Symphonia

Referring to=20 the chants contained within the Dendermonde Codex (ca. 1175) and the = Riesencodex=20 (ca. 1180) as the Symphonia = armoniae=20 celestium revelationum, has served to perpetuate the myth that all = of her=20 chants were conceived as a cycle, not that they were in fact a = collection of=20 chants written over Hildegard=92s compositional lifetime. The term has been commonly = used due to=20 its appearance in the introduction of Hildegard=92s Liber Vitae Meritorum.[8]=20 I contend that what Hildegard knew as the Symphonia is actually a = smaller number,=20 approximated by those twenty-six chants whose texts appear in what = Barbara=20 Newman describes as the miscellany.[9] Those, along with chants = determined to=20 have been written at the request of other communities, and those written = prior=20 to her move to the Rupertsberg, had been collected within the = supplemental=20 antiphonal we know today as the Dendermonde Codex and the Riesencodex=20 (Henceforth D and R). =20

Therefore, when=20 referring to these chants, I will use the term coined by Catherine = Jeffreys cantus cum melodia (chant with = melody),=20 which appears to have been the preferred term used by Hildegard=92s = secretary and=20 biographers rather than to perpetuate the term Symphonia .[10]

Background on the Cistercian = Reform

The = traditional=20 account regarding the origin of the Cistercian movement begins with its = founding=20 by Robert of Molesme (c. 1027-1110) who led a small band of companions = to=20 establish a new monastery at Citeaux in 1098. The driving force behind = this move=20 was the desire to return to an authentic practice of = monasticism and=20 devote themselves to the practice of caritas.[11] In order achieve this they = removed=20 themselves from the secular activities which they believed had so = cluttered and=20 corrupted the established Benedictine traditions epitomized in the late=20 11^th century by Cluny.

The = spread of=20 the Cistercian order began under the abbots Alberic (1099-1109) and = Stephen=20 Harding (1109-1133). It was through their guidance that reform to=20 pre-Benedictine ways sought measures which imitated Christ in poverty = and in=20 evangelism. In 1112 = Bernard of=20 Clairvaux and twenty-nine of his followers joined the abbey at Citeaux, = doubling=20 its size. Within a year, = the=20 Cistercian movement was well underway, and soon after Bernard became = abbot of=20 his own abbey at Clairvaux in 1115. =20 Bernard=92s charismatic influence led to the establishment of no = fewer than=20 327 Cistercian foundations in France, Britain, Spain, Italy and well into Eastern=20 Europe between the years 1125 and 1151.[12] There were 160 affiliated = daughter=20 houses to Bernard=92s abbey alone. To=20 ensure unity of purpose, practice and matters of governance among these = many=20 houses, the Cistercian abbots met annually in General Chapters.[13]

The = attraction=20 to the Cistercian movement by so many however made it difficult for the = monks of=20 Citeaux and Clairvaux to remain removed from the secular world. It also made it difficult to = enforce=20 uniform practice among the new houses. =20 Nevertheless, through continual recruitment from lesser nobility, = as is=20 the case of Bernard of Clairvaux and his family, and land donations from = the=20 likes of Theobold of Blois, Henry of Troyes and Emperor Frederick = Barbarossa,=20 the Cistercians became economically prosperous.[14] Moreover, between 1137 and = 1147=20 Bernard=92s fame kept him fully embroiled in the affairs of Church and = State=20 including his role as intermediary between Louis VII and Thibault, Count = of=20 Champagne.[15]=20 Through Bernard=92s influence, the Cistercian order gained a = considerable=20 political foundation which culminated in the election of the first = Cistercian=20 Pope, Eugenius III (1145-1153). =20 Coupled with their evangelistic attitude, the Cistercians = preached out=20 against the Cathar heresy and became dominating forces for the Second, = Third and=20 Fourth Crusades.[16]

Life in Cistercian=20 Communities

In = their drive=20 toward authenticity, the Cistercians modeled their community on the = ideal monk,=20 St. Benedict of Nursia (480-547) and therefore strove to live in strict=20 observance of the Rule of St. Benedict. =20 Their zeal for authentic practice did not end there for they also = re-examined the works of those authors which were likely known by St.=20 Benedict. The greatest = impact from=20 this train of thought is noted in the reform of liturgical practice. = Initially=20 they adopted what they believed were the =93original=94 chants of Pope = Gregory I=20 (540-604) supplemented with hymns composed by St. Ambrose of Milan (ca=20 337-397). A detailed = account=20 regarding the liturgical reform is in Chapter 4.

Aside = from the=20 devotion to caritas and = strict=20 observation to the Rule of St. Benedict, which included the wearing of a = white=20 habit (ergo their appellation =93white monks=94), all Cistercian houses = venerated=20 the Virgin Mary.[17] Their stated reason was because their founders came to = Citeaux from=20 the church of=20 Molesme which was = itself=20 dedicated in honor of the blessed Mary.[18] They decreed therefore that = all=20 succeeding churches be founded in dedication to the Queen of Heaven and = Earth,=20 establishing a relationship of =93mother =96 daughter=94 houses.[19]=20 In keeping with the Song = of=20 Songs metaphor, popular especially through Bernard=92s famous = sermons on the=20 subject, the soul of a Cistercian monk was the ideal =93Bride of = Christ=94 and=20 =93Daughter of Zion.=94[20]

Origins = Reconsidered

It is = generally=20 acknowledged today that many of the Cistercian communities did not start = from=20 scratch, that is they did not all begin with a small band of monks = settling in=20 the wilderness. Rather = the large=20 number of houses amassed in the short period was due to the adoption and = ultimate conversion of Cistercian practices in existing = communities. In a conversation with = Constant Mews, he=20 clarified that =93It was not unusual for communities once reformed by = Hirsau to be=20 taken over by Cistercians. The process was beginning even by the mid = 12th=20 century.=94[21] Supporting this process is = that=20 Hildegard=92s own parent community at Disibodenberg, which itself fell = under the=20 Hirsau reform in the late 11^th century, became Cistercian in = 1259 as=20 a colony of Otterberg.[22]

Further, making=20 the distinction between what constitutes a full fledged Cistercian = community and=20 those communities adopting Cistercian practice in the 12^th = century is=20 not always clear. It had = been=20 previously believed that there were no Cistercian communities for women = in the=20 12^th century. [23] This was simply not the case, = Waddell=20 has pointed out that Heloise and her community at the Paraclete were in = fact=20 using an early form of the Cistercian liturgy, to which Abelard wrote = his famous=20 critique of their practice in 1132.[24] It is conceivable therefore = that when=20 Hildegard initially removed her nuns from Disibodenberg to their own = community=20 dedicated to Mary in 1150, she may have indeed adopted the Cistercian=20 liturgy. How did = liturgical=20 practice and jurisdiction play out?

Jurisdiction and = Liturgy

I am = indebted=20 to Constant Mews for clarifying the relationship of jurisdiction and = liturgical=20 practice between orders and diocese, =93Religious orders all have to = acknowledge=20 the authority of the local bishop (unless they have a special exemption = which=20 puts them under the authority of the pope, like Cluny in the middle = ages), but=20 they are all entitled to develop their own liturgy, which they did. = Unlike the=20 Benedictines, the Cistercians were initially very strict about wanting = to have a=20 uniform liturgy, and would meet annually in general chapter to hammer = out this=20 sort of thing=85 it would not surprise me if Cistercians still were = putting in=20 local things into their liturgy without telling the General = Chapter.=94[25] Such discrepancies warrant a = closer=20 investigation between the Cistercian community in Villers and = Hildegard=92s own=20 community.

CHAPTER 1: Origins of = Authority

In = 1176=20 Hildegard von Bingen received a letter from Guibert of Gembloux on = behalf of the=20 Cistercian brothers at Villers. = The=20 letter expressed thanks for a book she sent as a gift that they were = =93=85reading=20 zealously and embracing=85affectionately.=94[26] This gift, assumed to be St. Pieters & Paulusabdij = Dendermonde=20 Ms. Codex 9, is one of two surviving primary sources which contain=20 Hildegard=92s Cantus cum melodia.

Villers was a=20 daughter house of Clairvaux. = It was=20 located in the region of modern Belgium known as Brabant. = The=20 community was founded in 1146 by Bernard of Clairvaux, where his = disciple=20 Laurent was the first abbot. = The=20 gift mentioned above was received shortly after Bernard was canonized in = 1174.[27] If the account provided in the = Vita=20 Hildegardis is to be=20 believed, Bernard was instrumental in supporting Hildegard=92s = works early=20 in her public career. = This leaves=20 room for speculation that there was a far deeper spiritual understanding = shared=20 between the nuns of Rupertsberg and this Belgian order of male =93brides = of=20 Christ=94 who practiced strict observance of the Rule of St. = Benedict.

The = first=20 mention of Cistercian influence in Hildegard=92s public life is cited in = the Vita Hildegardis. According to = the Vita, Hildegard received papal = sanction=20 shortly after Pope Eugenius III read portions from her then unfinished = treatise=20 Scivias at the Synod of = Trier=20 (1147/48). After this, = Hildegard=20 sought to found a convent of her own, taking with her the community of = nuns=20 recruited, like herself, from lesser nobility.[28] Impeded by abbot Kuno of = Disibodenberg,=20 Heinrich, Archbishop of Mainz intervened and allowed Hildegard and her = nuns to=20 establish a new community at the Rupertsberg.[29]

While = it may be=20 that Hildegard did not initially convert her house entirely to the = Cistercian=20 order when she left Disibodenberg, there is enough evidence to support = that she=20 modeled much of her work, and I suggest her liturgy too, on Bernard=92s = writings=20 and sermons on the Song of = Songs.[30] It was only in her later years = (ca.=20 1170) that she exploited these similarities when she began moving toward = a=20 complete transition. = Hildegard was=20 compelled by fear that the lax care and governance, which had = infiltrated her=20 archdiocese, would corrupt her nuns from salvation in the years after = her=20 death. She therefore = resolved to=20 align her communities at Rupertsberg and Eibingen with the spiritual = authority=20 she most respected. Only = strict=20 observation of the Rule of St. Benedict would ensure their salvation at = the time=20 of the impending apocalypse she viewed was near.

In = seeking=20 allies among the Cistercians, three significant points in thought and = deed are=20 noted. First, = clarification of=20 vision in the Liber diuinorum = operum=20 (written 1163-74) in which the virtue of Caritas plays a primary = role. Second, she needed proof of a = written=20 endorsement by the Cistercian Pope Eugenius III. As his support is listed only = in the Vita Hildegardis, a spurious = letter of=20 papal sanction by Eugenius was inserted by Volmar, Hildegard=92s = secretary and=20 provost. Third, the = refinement of=20 her chant melodies to resonate with contemporary Cistercian aesthetics = was=20 required.[31]

With = these=20 changes, Hildegard compiled samples of her works for communities she = thought=20 could offer assistance. The Dendermonde Codex therefore represents a = sort of=20 =93press-kit=94 designed to establish new ties in liturgical practice, = if not=20 jurisdiction itself, for her community upon her death.

The Spiritual World of=20 Hildegard

The = growth of=20 intellectual and spiritual activity in the 12^th century often = has=20 been equated with that of renaissance. Theological debate on the = nature of the=20 Trinity and arguments between faith and reason dominated the = century. The influence Honorius=20 Augustodunensis=92 (1070-1139) Commentaries on the Feast of the = Assumption loomed=20 large over the century. = This first=20 Marian interpretation of the Song of Solomon kindled the flame of Marian = devotion which spread throughout Western=20 Europe. Further, the rediscovery of commentaries on the Song of Songs by the patristic = father=20 Origen provided Bernard of Clairvaux with the inspiration for his most = famous=20 Sermons on the same subject.

In = the world of=20 monastic reform, Constant J. Mews provides a concise introductory = account of the=20 various cathedral, canonical, and monastic communities which sprang up = in the=20 Rhineland in the early part of the = twelfth=20 century. He notes that = women of=20 ministerial rank and below associated themselves, =93=85with communities = of canons=20 regular, following the Augustinian Rule, explicitly directed to women as = well as=20 men.=94 Citing examples of such magistrae as Tenxwind and = Richlind,=20 =93Hildegard was growing up in a world in which female spiritual leaders = were=20 emerging outside the traditional aristocracy and the Benedictine = order,=94=20 concluding that it was their examples that may have provided the impetus = for=20 Hildegard to abandon the reclusive life she lived until the 1136 death = of her=20 superior, Jutta. [32]

By = the early=20 1170s, Hildegard had already embarked on numerous evangelical tours, = preaching=20 out against the Cathar heresy which she believed to be the greatest = threat=20 against the Church [Ecclesia]. She was compelled into action = as she=20 viewed the clergy within the Church were either unable or worse, = unwilling to=20 stop it. It seems = incredible=20 however that a woman who lived in such a patriarchal society would have = been=20 allowed to preach and admonish without herself being accused of = heresy. Although it may be rare, it = was=20 nevertheless acceptable medieval practice.

Hildegard=92s Divine = Authority

In = order for=20 Hildegard to establish herself as a magistra and theological = exegete she=20 needed to express authority [auctoritas]. Understanding this concept is = crucial to=20 knowing how Hildegard earned the right to preach, and why so many = people,=20 Cistercians included, sought and accepted her spiritual counsel. = Hildegard=92s=20 provost, Volmar provides an indication of the accepted practice of = divine=20 authority via woman in a letter dated around 1170.

Why do so many undertake difficult = journeys=20 into remote parts of the world to seek out the teachings of various = men... they=20 sweat over the profundity, or, rather, the enigma, of sententiae, = listening to=20 disputes in the courts and remaining awake at all hours of the = night=85The result=20 is that to the embarrassment of modern scholastics who abuse the = knowledge given=20 them from above, the Spirit of prophecy and vision, revitalized in a = fragile=20 vessel and without help of secular learning, brings forth things that = they=20 cannot comprehend in any way. = For=20 the Spirit gives what instruction He will and =93breatheth where he = will=94 [John=20 3.8]. And so here we see the principle fulfilled that God, according to = the=20 Scripture, has chosen the foolish and weak things of this world in order = to=20 confound the wise and strong [cf I Cor 1.27].[33]

He = is=20 seemingly baffled at what he considers the folly of secular learning by=20 scholastic theologians. = To him,=20 they ignore the divine by debating its meaning, not simply accepting its = fundamental truth. It is a fair assumption that = he=20 considers the written word, the Bible, as the ultimate divine authority, = but how=20 does a fragile vessel = become a=20 conduit for the Spirit of = prophecy and=20 vision without evoking heresy?

Authority of Virginity and=20 Humility

In = his overview=20 of late medieval mysticism, Bernard McGinn relates a quote dated around = 1290=20 from the Parisian master Henry of Ghent regarding the authority of women = as=20 teachers of theology. = While women=20 were not allowed to teach by ecclesiastical approbation, they were = allowed to=20 teach from grace. Henry states, =93=85speaking about teaching from = divine favor and=20 the fervor of [caritas], it = is well=20 allowed for a woman to teach just like anyone else, if she possesses = sound=20 doctrine.=94[34]

Hildegard=92s=20 authority [auctoritas] = stemmed from=20 her access to the divine mysteries which were revealed through = vision. Recognition of her authority = required a=20 blend of three traits: humility, gender,=20 and virginity. First =93Humility=85=94 as = noted by Anna=20 Somfai, =93=85was the precondition for the visionary mystic to fulfill = her function=20 as a mediator of the divine truth. =20 For women, who generally were not allowed to teach, nor to = participate in=20 the kind of activities that enabled their male counterpart=92s = self-expression,=20 visions provided a genre of theology not yet monopolized by men=94.[35]=20

Second =93Since=20 her gender served as a critical obstacle, Hildegard invariably had to = establish=20 her authority over considerable resistance from her male peers and = superiors.=94=20 This is noted by the number of instances found in her correspondence to=20 dignitaries and other authorities. In these letters Hildegard stressed = her=20 inferior nature as a woman through her self description as paupercula feminea forma [a = poor little=20 woman=92s shape.][36] Where this phrase might appear = as=20 self-deprecating, it serves as a necessary strategy to preserve = Hildegard=92s=20 humility. =93Hildegard herself explained the discrepancy at various = instances with=20 a line of argumentation that runs roughly like this: God must have = chosen an=20 uneducated and timid woman as His mouthpiece only because the higher = clergy had=20 fallen so low in moral matters.=94[37]

Third = and most=20 important trait of visionary authority is virginity. While much has been written of = Hildegard=92s adoration of the Virgin Mary, or the plausible emulation = of Ursula=20 and her companions for her community, it is the virginity of John the = Evangelist=20 which is of prime importance to the visionary. In Christian tradition, = revelation into=20 the divine mysteries is granted to those pure and chaste. In the New Testament, John the = Evangelist is the chaste apostle, the =93white martyr,=94 acknowledged = in the=20 medieval world as author of both the Gospel of John and the Apocalypse of John.

It is = clear=20 that John had always been of special importance for Hildegard. He happens to be the only = Evangelist for=20 whom she dedicated chant. Furthermore, references to John abound in = practically=20 all of her works and correspondence. =20 A notable inclusion is an exegesis on the opening chapter of the = Gospel of John which appears = in the=20 fourth vision of her final treatise Liber=20 diuinorum operum.[38] For the purposes of this = thesis, the=20 relevancy of the following should be noted. Sometime between 1173-1179 = Hildegard=20 writes:

John is the mirror of holy = virginity because=20 he gave up earthly marriage for the sake of his love for the Son of God, = and=20 since the Son of God descended from His Father into the virginal = material of His=20 humanity, which he adorned with all the virtues, He had a special love = for John=20 beyond all the other saints, and sealed him with the seal of His hidden=20 miracles. It is John who = says in a=20 mystical vision, =93I saw the holy city,=94 etc. [Apoc 21.2].[39]

&nbs= p; = ; =20

Her = virginity, combined with her virtue of humility and paupercula feminea forma, = bestowed upon=20 Hildegard wisdom, the = understanding=20 through divine revelation. = Her writings, though filled with natural metaphors, remain wholly = orthodox and therefore express revealed=20 exegesis. Upon = her then=20 is bestowed an authority near, if not at, the same level granted John = the=20 Evangelist. In the = Cistercian=20 preference for divine revelation over the reasoned thought characterized = by=20 Peter Abelard; these points alone pave the way for the acceptance of = Hildegard=92s=20 chant by the =93white monks=94 of Villers.

CHAPTER 2: The Devil in = Mainz

Hence, with=20 regard to the tribulation and affliction which you and yours are = enduring=20 because of the suspension of the divine offices, the clearer your = innocence in=20 this matter becomes to us, the more firmly we sympathize with you. Nevertheless, the Church held = that the=20 man buried in your churchyard had incurred the sentence of = excommunication while=20 he was alive, and although some doubt remained concerning his = absolution, the=20 fact that you disregarded the outcry of the clergy and acted as if this = would=20 cause no scandal in the Church was a very dangerous act, since the = statutes of=20 the holy fathers are inviolable. = You should have waited for definitive proof based on the suitable = testimony of good men in the presence of the Church.[40]

The = quote,=20 contained within a March 1179 letter by Christian, Archbishop of Mainz = to the=20 80-year old Hildegard, is the final word in the matter regarding the = burial of=20 an excommunicated nobleman in the churchyard of the Rupertsberg.[41] It stands as one of the great = examples=20 of Hildegard=92s defiance against the patriarchal authority of her=20 archdiocese.

The = punishment imposed upon her community by the prelates of Mainz, who were acting in the archbishop=92s = absence, forbade=20 her community from singing the Divine Office and participating in the = Mass. Her well-known response to the = prelates=20 regarding the interdict is a demonstration of her skilled rhetoric. It is at once a minor treatise = concerning the divine origins of music and an admonishing sermon = decrying the=20 Devil=92s infiltration into the thoughts and actions of the clergy. After a lengthy account = supporting the=20 divine reason for celebrating praise with song, she all but suggests = that the=20 interdict they imposed was inspired by the devil who,

=85never ceases from confounding = confession=20 and the sweet beauty of both divine praise and spiritual hymns, = eradicating them=20 through wicked suggestions, impure thoughts, or various distractions = from the=20 heart of man and even from the mouth of the Church itself=85through = dissension,=20 scandal, or unjust oppression.[42]

Upon his=20 return the archbishop adopted a conciliatory = tone=20 and reversed the interdict. His response nevertheless demonstrates that = no=20 matter how great and blessed Hildegard=92s gifts were perceived to be, = they did=20 not give her license to act above her temporal superiors, the statues of = the=20 holy fathers or the ultimate authority of the Church.[43]=20 While the letter is specific to the interdict, it serves as the capstone = in a=20 long history of contention between Hildegard=92s community and the = political=20 jurisdiction of her archdiocese within the imperial government of = Frederick=20 Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor from 1152-1190.

Hildegard=20 lived virtually all of her life at the Rupertsberg during Frederick=92s = reign. Her world during these years = was marked=20 by the conflict between the Holy Roman Emperor and Pope Alexander III. = The=20 undercurrent of this conflict, and one which ostensibly affected = Hildegard=92s=20 thought was the struggle for power between papal and imperial = agents. This ultimately led to the = papal schism=20 between Pope Alexander III and the anti-Popes of Frederick = Barbarossa.

Consolidating the = Empire

In = an effort=20 to consolidate the empire, Frederick exercised his supreme = authority by=20 selecting his own archbishops as well as subduing the provinces which = had fallen=20 away from the empire. Of = the latter=20 it was Frederick=92s efforts in = Northern Italy which dominated much of his = attention.

The = Diet of=20 Roncaglia in 1158 restored to the emperor rule by divine right over = northern=20 Italian provinces. As the = Italian=20 cities did not accept this verdict, Frederick=20 enforced the law with military might, destroying Milan in 1162. In 1167, Pope Alexander III = organized=20 the Lombard League, a band of fourteen cities, to counter Frederick=92s = campaigns. With his forces depleted by = disease,=20 Frederick was=20 finally forced to concede after the Battle of Legnano in 1176. The = Treaty of=20 Venice was signed the following year.[44]

Throughout=20 these campaigns support from the Archbishopric of Mainz was crucial. = Frederick first = enlisted=20 the aid of Arnold of Mainz. =20 Arnold=20 was his hand picked archbishop, selected to replace Heinrich whom he had = deposed=20 upon his election.[45]=20 Arnold however=20 proved to be ineffective both at political and, in Hildegard=92s view, = spiritual=20 administration. His short = time as=20 archbishop was characterized by political protest of his = constituency. His most severe act was in=20 excommunicating the entire city of Mainz for=20 refusing to pay Frederick=92s war-tribute. After numerous violent = conflicts, he was=20 eventually murdered on June 24, 1160.[46]

Arnold=92s = successor, Conrad=20 (1162-1165) received a more favorable view from Hildegard. It was during his tenure that = Frederick = granted a charter=20 of imperial protection in perpetuity to Hildegard=92s community.[47] In a letter, she reminds = Conrad of his=20 temporal role and warns him of the dangers of his office:

But gird yourself with justice and = the love=20 of eternal felicity. Moreover, in the dawning of this new day, do not = give heed=20 to those who spurn God and reject His works, as it is written: = =93Deliver, O God,=20 my soul from the sword: my only one from the hand of the dog=94 [Ps = 21.21]. In=20 this way, you will escape from the sword which falls on evil men, and = avoid the=20 infidelity of the words of men who, like dogs, reject God.[48]<= /P>

Conrad=92s=20 support for Alexander III however, ensured that his career in office = would not=20 last long. He was = ultimately forced=20 out of his archbishopric when he refused to acknowledge the anti-pope, = Paschal=20 III as Frederick=92s appointment to the = papal see. Conrad fled to Alexander where = he joined=20 in his efforts against Frederick.

It = was=20 Conrad=92s replacement who ensured Mainz=92s support in the Emperor=92s=20 campaigns. This man was = Frederick=92s = chancellor,=20 Christian I, the Count of Buch. =20 Christian had served as provost of Mainz cathedral since 1162 when = Frederick and=20 Paschal III appointed him Archbishop of Mainz (1165-1183). Christian was a capable = soldier and=20 diplomat. As Frederick=92s = chancellor, he=20 was the Emperor=92s right hand man.[49] At the turn of the last = century, the=20 historian Ferdinand Gregorovius described Christian as a jovial knight who kept a harem = of=20 beautiful girls, and whose army pack mules were cared for in greater = luxury than=20 the servants of the Emperor.[50]

Although no=20 correspondence between Hildegard and her archdiocese exist from the time = of=20 Conrad to her 1178 letter to the prelates of Mainz, one can guess what Hildegard, = a=20 supporter of Alexander III, pious woman, and admonishing =93Voice of the = Living=20 Light=94 against lax clergy, thought of Christian=92s position of = ecclesiastical=20 authority. Her = apocalyptic tenth=20 vision of the LDO appears = as a=20 reflection of the situation in Mainz:

=85God will=20 allow punishment to strike all who have exceeded what is right, just as=20 punishment will strike the tyranny of those who are God=92s foes. And people will say to each=20 other=85because they have the power to bind and to loose, they bind us = as if we=20 were the most savage of wolves. =20 Their wantonness attacks us, and the whole Church is diminished = as a=20 result. For they no = longer announce=20 what is just, and they undermine the Law just as wolves devour = sheep. They are voracious in their = carousing=20 and often commit adultery. = And=20 because of their sins, they condemn us without mercy=85[51]

The = passage=20 demonstrates that she was growing concerned with the Devil=92s = corrupting=20 influence within the clergy of the Church, i.e. those who =93=85have the = power to=20 bind.=94 If her letter to = the=20 prelates is any indication, it can be assumed that between 1165 and = 1178, she=20 held no confidence in their spiritual authority, but abided by their = power to=20 bind.

Hildegard=20 relates this vision to a wider scope of imperial politics. She summarizes her view of the = papal=20 schism to an excommunicated lay person in a letter dated between = 1173-1177:

The great tribulations that, = through the=20 judgment of God, the Church has now been suffering for a long time on = account of=20 the oppression of the Apostolic See are the result of the iniquity of = all the=20 people, who indulge their own will and bring the precepts of God into = scorn=85On=20 account of these and countless other sins, the head of the Church has = now long=20 been divided, and the Church has suffered a loss in each contender to = the=20 apostolic seat since it refuses to accept either one of them = unanimously.[52]

The schism=20 is rooted in the indulgence of personal will rather than obedience to = God. It seems clear that she is = criticizing=20 both sides, Frederick and Alexander. =20 Furthermore, she sympathizes with the Church. The Church is still the = temporal=20 authority and working against its agents however is dangerous to the = soul. Her point is clearer in the = following=20 letter regarding the personal matter of excommunication.

Therefore, let each of the = faithful flee in=20 solicitude of soul to his own spiritual teacher to learn what he should = do, in=20 the correct faith, because the souls of the subordinates should always = be ruled=20 by the teaching of their spiritual leaders. The power of binding was first = granted=20 to priests through the chief of the apostles [cf. Matt 16.19]=85Yet the = priest,=20 who has the power of binding and loosing among men, should be = exceedingly=20 careful lest he be accused by the Highest Judge of destroying his = brother by=20 excommunicating him unjustly.[53]

She = serves a=20 warning to the priests who abuse their power that the celestial judgment = of God=20 is upon them. This echoes = the=20 sentiments of her response to the prelates of Mainz: dutifully obeying the = interdict of the=20 priests, but not without admonishing their spiritual misguidance. Note that she is careful not = to=20 criticize the Church [Ecclesia]. It is not Ecclesia=92s fault but the = fallible=20 clergy. If she criticized = Ecclesia, she would have been = just as=20 heretical as those Cathars against whom she preached. So in order for the priests to = return to=20 God=92s good graces, they must first practice Caritas.

The = problem=20 for Hildegard was that she felt powerless to influence the prelates of=20 Mainz. What recourse to salvation = exists then=20 for the soul, or a community of souls, when the spiritual leaders of the = correct faith pass incorrect sentences? With confidence she realized = that the=20 best way to secure salvation for her community was to distance them as = far from=20 the Devil in Mainz as possible.

In the Grasp of the Devil

The = task of=20 achieving the break seemed impossible, especially in light of her past=20 relationship with her parent community, the monastery of = Disibodenberg. She had already removed her = community to=20 Rupertsberg, but only through the intervention of Heinrich of = Mainz. After the move, Hildegard = rarely related=20 praise for either its abbots, Kuno and later Helengerus (1155-79) or the = monks. When she returned = to=20 Disibodenberg in 1155 to negotiate over property rights, she remarked:

=85a mob of some of your monks = rose up and=20 gnashed their teeth at me, as if I were a bird of gloom or a horrid = beast, and=20 they bend their bows against me in order to drive me away. But I know for a fact that God = moved me=20 from that place for His own inscrutable purposes, for my soul was so = agitated by=20 His words and miracles that I believe I would have died before my time = if I had=20 remained there.[54]

If = papal=20 schism was the undercurrent of imperial politics, the unresolved issue = of=20 property rights between Disibodenberg and the Rupertsberg was a defining = issue=20 on the local stage. = Disibodenberg=20 always exerted its right as parent community often siding with their own = interests rather than, in Hildegard=92s view, God=92s. Nowhere was this more = troubling than=20 with the death of Volmar, Hildegard=92s longtime friend, confidant, and=20 secretary. When he died = in 1173,=20 another battle for political jurisdiction over the Rupertsberg = ensued.

Hildegard and=20 her community elected their own replacement for Volmar, but Helengerus = denied=20 their choice. Hildegard = then wrote=20 to Alexander III, still at battle with Frederick, rather than the = Archbishop of=20 Mainz for assistance:

Now O gentlest father=85We are in = great=20 distress because the abbot of Mount St. Disibod and his brothers have = taken away=20 our privileges and the right of election which we have always had, = rights which=20 we have been ever careful to retain. =20 For if they will not grant us reverential and religious men, such = as we=20 seek, spiritual religion will be totally destroyed among us. Therefore, my lord, for = God=92s sake, help=20 us, so that we may retain the man we have elected to that office. Or, if not, let us seek out = and receive=20 others, where we can, who will look after us in accordance with the will = of God=20 and our own needs.[55]

The = importance Volmar played in Hildegard=92s writing has been well = documented=20 throughout the years. His = role=20 within the administration of the Rupertsberg however has often been = inadequately=20 addressed. As a community = for=20 women, the Rupertsberg fell under the jurisdiction of the abbot of=20 Disibodenberg. The abbot entrusted his authority to a prepositus, a monk who oversaw = the=20 administrative and spiritual needs of the community. Volmar thus served this role = as the=20 abbot=92s representative. = He was=20 therefore, in the eyes of the church and the archdiocese, Hildegard=92s = superior=20 at the Rupertsberg. Given = Hildegard=92s distrust of the monks of Disibodenberg, this was certainly = a major=20 concern. As long as the = abbot of=20 Disibodenberg determined the prepositus, she may have felt her community = was=20 within the clutches of the Devil himself.[56]=20 Hope was on the horizon.

It = was=20 perhaps through seeking out and = receiving=20 others that a Guibert de Gembloux, a Benedictine monk with = Cistercian=20 sympathies came to the attention of Hildegard. As Hildegard never names her = initial=20 choice for Volmar=92s successor in her correspondence with Alexander = III, it is=20 possible that he may have been it.[57] At any rate, by the time he = became prepositus in 1177, Volmar and = Hildegard=92s Cistercian plan was already underway.
CHAPTER 3: The Cistercian Plan

Although now, sweet mother, we are = privileged to see you every day with fleshly eyes and hear you with = fleshly=20 ears=85we still have no doubt that at some time, as it pleases God, you = will be=20 taken away from us=85When that time comes, our grief and woe will = surpass the joy=20 we now feel. Who will = provide fresh=20 interpretations of the Scriptures? Who then will utter songs never heard = before=20 and give voice to that unheard language? =20 Who will deliver new and unheard-of sermons on feast days?...We = know that=20 God=92s grace has bestowed these capacities upon you along with a sweet = and humble=20 character and a heart that pours out maternal affection on all around = you.[58]=20 - Volmar to Hildegard (ca. = 1170)

Acknowledging=20 Hildegard=92s mortality, Volmar and Hildegard set forth on a plan in the = last=20 decade of her life to secure proper care for the souls in her = community. She grew increasingly = concerned with the=20 spiritual misguidance of the priests of the Church and the abbots of=20 Disibodenberg.[59] Therefore in order to secure = her=20 community=92s salvation from the Devil who had infiltrated the governing = powers,=20 she resolved to detach herself from their jurisdiction completely. At = the same=20 time, she turned her efforts to engage those communities who shared a = common=20 practice for spiritual salvation. =20 Most often it was to those communities dedicated to the Virgin = Mary, and=20 judging from the Appendix = A,=20 especially those of Cistercian and Premonstratensian practice.[60]=20

In = a letter=20 dated after 1170 she addressed her congregation to inform them of a = recent=20 meeting with the brothers of their parent community. Here she presented a petition=20 requesting:

=85that our monastery, as well as = the alms=20 accruing therefrom, be free and clear from their jurisdiction, for the = sake of=20 the salvation of our souls and our concern for the strict observance of = the=20 Rule.[61]

Her = speech=20 indicates that in order for Hildegard to ensure the care and feeding of = her=20 nun=92s souls, they must first be freed from the {corrupted} = jurisdiction of=20 Disibodenberg. Her = concern for the=20 strict observance of the Rule [of St. Benedict] is an indication = that the=20 Rupertsberg and Disibodenberg had maintained separate liturgies. This provides a tantalizing = clue that=20 after 1170, Hildegard, if not actually adopting Cistercian practice, was = at=20 least in agreement with them concerning strict observance of the Rule of = St.=20 Benedict.[62] She goes on:

They granted me this freedom and = even=20 promised me a written charter. =20 Everyone=97from the highest to the lowest=97who saw, heard, and = perceived=20 these things displayed the greatest benevolence regarding these matters = so that=20 they were confirmed in writing, in accordance with God=92s=20 will.

The = main=20 problem here is that while she reports that they granted this freedom, = it never=20 came to fruition. Upon = her death,=20 her monastery reverted back to the control of Disibodenberg, erasing her = attempt=20 at reform.

Enacting the = Plan

Hildegard=92s=20 impact as theological exegete and confidant found their greatest = audience in=20 abbots, abbesses, magistrae, monks, nuns, and bishops from other = diocese.[63] Lay people and pilgirms = regarded her as=20 an inspired visionary and spread her fame throughout Christendom. Nevertheless, as noted at the = opening of=20 this chapter, she was often contradicted by her local authorities who = treated=20 her =93=85from afar and with a wary respect, never as someone enjoying a = papal=20 sanction.=94[64] So how was she to be certain = that=20 whatever community she entrusted would not take advantage of her = convent? The last thing she wanted was = to repeat=20 the same history of problems she had with Disibodenberg.

Two = important=20 works dated around or after 1170 provide clues as to how Hildegard = conducted her=20 efforts. One is the = =91clarification=92=20 of her visions as recorded in her last treatise, the Liber diuinorum operum = (1163-1173). The other is the alleged = =91forgery=92 of=20 letters to create, in John van Engen=92s words, a =93myth of = authorization.=94

Liber diuinorum = operum

The Liber diuinorum operum (LDO) will only be briefly = addressed in=20 this thesis but there are a few notable features which must be = mentioned. First, the figure of = personified Caritas plays a more crucial = role in=20 than in her previous works: [65]=20

I am=20 Caritas, the radiance of the living God. Sapientia achieved her = handiwork=20 together with me. Humility, who took root in the living fountain, was my = helper,=20 and Peace adheres to her. [66] Through the radiance that I = am, the=20 living light of the blessed angels shines=85

In = the=20 illustration accompanying this vision, Caritas has replaced Ecclesia, shown previously in = Scivias (1141-1151), as the = triumphant=20 force of salvation over the serpent. =20 In Hildegard=92s visionary expression, this is symbolic of her = eroded=20 confidence in the lax clergy who have corrupted Church. As mentioned in the previous = chapter, it=20 is the clergy who are guilty of indulging their will rather than = obedience to=20 God.

The = prominent=20 placement of Caritas in the = LDO can be viewed perhaps as = merely a=20 trivial inclusion suggesting her attention to various Cistercian authors = and=20 practices.[67] Even more fascinating however = is that=20 Hildegard=92s =93=85cosmological speech (=93Ego summa et ignea uis=94) = discloses clear=20 debts to Cicero=92s De natura = deorum,=20 Seneca=92s Naturales = quaestiones, Ecclesiasticus, Ambrose=92s De Abraham, Lucan=92s Pharsalia, the hermetic = treatise Asclepius, and the Cosmographia of Aethicus = Ister=85=94[68] In considering the works from = these=20 accepted pagan and early Christian authors, Hildegard was following the=20 Cistercian practice of including only those works and practices known to = St.=20 Benedict.[69] Moreover, by not citing those = sources,=20 she remained true to her authoritative indentity through revealed = exegesis.

The = replacement of Ecclesia = with Caritas is not the only = significant=20 change found in the LDO. When describing the = discrepancies=20 between the egg-shaped vision of the cosmos in Scivias versus the wheel-shape = in LDO, she explains that = =93=85the shape of=20 the world exists everlastingly in the knowledge of [true Caritas] which = is=20 God=85=94[70] The discrepancy exists because = neither=20 egg nor wheel provide a satisfactory analogy. The egg was used in Scivias to reveal the distinct = elements=20 which make up the world. = The wheel=20 is better suited for describing both the circumference and right = measurement of=20 those same elements. = Hildegard then=20 concludes that a ball is yet a better analogy.[71]

Sabina=20 Flanigan, in noting these clarifications points out that Hildegard = compared her=20 works prior to the LDO to = those of=20 the Old Testament Prophets. = Their=20 works were but shadows of true meaning that were not fully revealed = until after=20 the Incarnation.

But reason=20 gives utterance and the sound is like thought and the work like a = deed. And from this shadow the book = Scivias came forth by means of = a woman=20 who was herself a shadow of health and strength, lacking such forces.[72]

Thus might=20 Hildegard=92s chants be considered. =20 The earlier chants, characterized by excessive ambitus are = shadows of her=20 later, reserved chants. = For a=20 culture interpreting divine auctoritas, both chants and = vision=20 indicate the imperfections of a frail human vessel attempting to = translate the=20 divine into the earthly realm. =20

Sanctioning Authority: The Myth = of=20 Authorization

There = exists an=20 impressive collection of some 390 letters written by and to = Hildegard. While some of her letters seem = rather=20 formulaic and mundane, others can be viewed as sermons directly inspired = by the=20 =93Living Light.=94 As = already=20 demonstrated, it is the letters which provide some of the most valuable = insight=20 into her theology, political views and liturgical practice. More importantly, = Hildegard=92s letters=20 played their greatest role in establishing her authority.

In = the=20 12^th century, a collection of correspondence helped to = establish=20 one=92s reputation in the cultural and political realms. The inclusion of such notable = addressees=20 as, Bernard of Clairvaux, Pope Eugenius III, Pope Adrian IV, Alexander = III, and=20 Emperor Frederick Barbarossa certainly indicate Hildegard=92s = significance (as=20 they are still cited today). = From=20 these addressees, no two letters have been more important than her = letter of=20 papal sanction by Eugenius III and her one and only letter from the = Cistercian=20 abbot, St. Bernard of Clairvaux. = Traditionally, it has been the correspondence with Bernard which = provides=20 the first surviving account through which Hildegard=92s visionary = abilities were=20 recognized.[73]

As = related in=20 the Vita Hildegardis, = Hildegard wrote=20 to Bernard of Clairvaux asking his opinion as to whether she should = conceal her=20 visions or reveal them. = Bernard=20 encouraged her to write and even supported her cause before Pope = Eugenius III=20 who sanctioned her work at the Synod of Trier 1147/48.[74]=20 =20

Few = scholars=20 today have worked with the actual letters, working instead from the = convenience=20 of compiled editions with an estimated chronological dating method, most = recently accomplished by Lievin van Acker.[75] The reason for this is that no = original=20 letter nor copybook are known to exist. =20 Instead modern editions must rely upon three contemporaneous = manuscripts=20 such as the copies recorded in the Riesencodex.

John = van Engen=20 asserts that Volmar not only tampered with the ordering of letters in = the Liber epistolarum, but also = forged the=20 letter of papal sanction by Pope Eugenius III. That is, the letter expressing = that she=20 give utterance to what she saw in vision. Van Engen cites = only two=20 known sources for the papal endorsement, which, based on corroborating = evidence,=20 date from about 1170.[76] Furthermore he acknowledges = that no=20 official endorsement exists in the records and letters of the popes,=20 archbishops, or Bernard himself.[77] This instance supports the = notion that a=20 =93myth of authorization=94 was created to support her visions.[78] I assert that thee explicit = purpose of=20 the spurious Eugenius letter was to serve as a pedigree of auctoritas. It was a certificate = sanctioning the=20 content of the bound codices she sent out to secure a new =93mother=94 = institution=20 for her community.

Even without the aid of the = spurious=20 letters, there is certainly enough clear evidence that the Cistercians = already=20 respected Hildegard=92s spiritual authority. =20 In a letter dated sometime before 1170, an anonymous Cistercian = community=20 wrote in praise to Hildegard requesting her divine insight on ways they = might=20 improve their community.

To Hildegard, worthy of all honor, = lady to=20 be embraced with the arms of sincere love=85we venerate you as = spiritually=20 superior to us, and we hope that you will be our mediator with Christ = like a=20 beloved mother. Because = we have=20 heard of the good reputation of your holy calling and your faithful=20 administration of your convent in God, we offer the obedience of prayer = for your=20 steadfastness and our service to God for your salvation=85we beseech = you, merciful=20 lady, not to hestitate to disclose to us what God has revealed to you = about that=20 which is displeasing to you (or, I should say, to the eyes of God)=85[79]<= /P>

The = question of=20 whether or not these Cistercian communities found her chant as spiritually superior and used = it within=20 their liturgy is more difficult to discern.

The = Cistercian=20 community which seemed a likely candidate and, recounting from Constant = Mews=20 comment in the introduction of this paper, the one which may indeed have = been=20 adding local practices, against the recommendations of the General = Chapter, is=20 the community in Villers-la-ville, or as Hildegard addressed them, the = filii charitatis.[80]=20

The Press-kit of Authority: The = Dendermonde=20 Codex

In a = letter to=20 the community of the Rupertsberg, in which Guibert de Gembloux asks for = news on=20 whether or not the rumors of Hildegard=92s death are true, he = writes:

With all the affectionate = veneration due=20 you, we have received the Book of=20 Life=92s Rewards, which your holy mother wrote and which you = sent, out of=20 your love for us. We = consider it=20 worthy of the greatest admiration. =20 The brothers at Villers first feasted well on its = marvelous=20 doctrine at their table, and now we too are taking delectable = sips from=20 reading the collection.[81]<= /P>

In = this=20 passage, Guibert provides us with evidence that the Cistercian brothers = at=20 Villers were using Hildegard=92s works. The problem is that he = only=20 addresses the reading of the Liber vitae=20 meritorum and not the singing of the cantus. If the cantus cum melodia were = initially bound=20 with the rest of the LVM, = it could be=20 inferred that they were supplementing their own antiphonal with = Hildegard=92s=20 chant. It is also worth = mentioning=20 that the LVM and the Cantus may once have been sent = as=20 separate manuscripts and only later bound at Villers. If this were the case, the = book=20 mentioned in the introduction which they were =93=85reading zealously = and=20 embracing=85affectionately...=94 might have meant the Cantus or some other book, = such as the=20 LDO.[82] I contend that both refer to = the LVM as one letter is addressed = to=20 Hildegard and the second to the Rupertsberg community on the belief that = Hildegard was dead.

What = is known=20 of the poorly documented history of the deteriorating Dendermonde Codex = Ms. 9 is=20 that on f.173v there is, in a late twelfth century hand, an owner=92s = mark:=20 =91Lib[er] s[an]c[t]e Mar[ie de] Villari=92 =20 Book of Saint Mary=92s of Villers.[83] Judging from the letters = discussed in=20 more detail below, it dates from around 1175. It is possible that it was = intended as a=20 gift on the canonization of Bernard of Clairvaux (January 18, 1174), by = whom the=20 Villers community was founded.[84] The codex had been cut = and rebound=20 in the eighteenth century and in the process folios have been lost. The = contents=20 as it appears today are:

1. =20 ff. 1-121v =20 - Liber Vitae Meritorum S. Hildegardis in two parts: ff. = 1-70v is=20 part I; ff. 71-121v is part II.[85]

2. =20 ff. 121-152v - =20 Liber Viarum Dei S. Elisabeth de Schoenau

3. =20 ff. 153-170v - Cantus cum melodia

4. =20 ff. 170-173v is a title less dialogue between a = priest=20 and a devil.

The missing=20 folios have been the subject of speculation for many years. It is reasonable to assume = that the=20 folios between f.155-156 and f.164-165 once contained music from the = cantus=20 cum melodia, but there is the matter of the eight (8) lacunae = before=20 the cantus. It = does seem=20 logical that the chants dedicated to the Father and Son were contained = on part=20 of the missing quire. Some, like Peter Dronke have suggested that it may = have=20 included the Ordo Uirtutem, Hildegard=92s liturgical drama. I propose yet another = hypothesis, that=20 the missing folios may have included Hildegard=92s endorsement of auctoritas, that is Volmar=92s = =93forged=94=20 letter from Eugenius III. = For=20 evidence of this, I look to the contents of a manuscript sent to the=20 Premonstratensian community of St. Mary=92s at Romerstorph.

Wa Wien,=20 Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex 1016

In=20 Wa, Folios 1-115 are written in a 13^th century hand; the = remaining=20 folios date from the late 12^th century, which might indicate = that the=20 13^th century folios are replacements for an original = 12^th=20 century manuscript. The = contents=20 are:

1. =20 ff. 1-108v - Liber Vitae Meritorum S.=20 Hildegardis

2. =20 ff. 108v-115v - = Responsiones super=20 questiones

3. =20 ff. 116-118r - fragments of = Letters[86]

4. =20 f. 118v =96 contains = musical notation=20 of the Kyrie, and Alleluia O Virga = mediatrix

5. =20 f. = 119r=20 contains the Litterae ignota followed by a single musical line of = Kyrie eleison

6. =20 ff. 119v-121v contain more = fragments=20 of Letters.

Using these=20 contents for comparison, I contend that the initial Dendermonde codex = included a=20 copy of the Bernardine correspondence and the =91forged=92 Eugenius III = letter. The lacunae most likely = included the Litterae ignota as well. To note, in Wa, the Litterae ignotae appear on the = very same=20 folio as the copy of the Bernard letter.[87] In the Riesencodex (R), the = final letter=20 from the brothers of Villers is recorded beneath the Litterae ignota, far removed = from the=20 other correspondence and also the last entry prior to the chants.[88]

The Responsiones super=20 questiones are Hildegard=92s solutions to the thirty-eight = questions=20 asked by Guibert and the monks of Villers. =20 Of the twenty earliest sources listed by van Acker, Wa=20 is the only one, outside of R, which contains the Responsiones. It seems that one would = expect to=20 find them in D not Wa. = The requests=20 for the Responsiones = however, appear=20 in the same letters as those thanking Hildegard for the book. It is safe to conclude that = they would=20 have come at a latter date. =20 Furthermore, this evidence suggests that D was bound at the=20 Rupertsberg.[89]

The history=20 of the Responsiones leads = into one of=20 the most intriguing pieces of the Cistercian/Guibert puzzle. The questions were initiated = by Guibert=20 around 1175 where he mentions reading her works while at Gembloux. It is most intriguing that up = until=20 Guibert=92s first visit to Hildegard, he is still residing at Gembloux = and makes=20 no mention of Villers. In = fact it=20 is not until after his visit with Hildegard that they enter into = his=20 correspondence, writing in 1176:

When I returned from my visit with = you last=20 autumn, blessed lady, before returning to the chamber of my mother, that = is, the=20 church at Gembloux, I turned aside to the abbey at Villers to visit my = most=20 reverend brothers and masters. In the presence of the abbot and those = brothers,=20 I read and reread that letter I had received from you through the agency = of Lord=20 Siger. I added also that information which, from your God-given wisdom, = you=20 imparted to me during my brief stay with you=85When they had heard all = these=20 things, their spirits were enkindled with such great ardor of learning = from you=20 that they unanimously formulated the appended questions for you to = resolve for=20 them=85[90]

It = is=20 perhaps that the Responsiones were=20 intended as a method of testing Hildegard=92s auctoritas. They are questions that a = prospective=20 candidate for the positions of prepositus might ask. It may also suggest that, = Guibert had=20 been an =93outside candidate=94 to fill Volmar=92s vacancy. Nevertheless, Hildegard=92s = delay in=20 providing answers to their request could be as simple as the infirmity = she=20 states,

I looked to the True Light, and as = far as I=20 could through the grace of God, I labored on the answers to your = questions. But=20 I have not yet completed the writing I began because of the press of my = affairs=20 and because of the great infirmity that I have suffered for a long time = by the=20 will of God. I have = answered only=20 fourteen of those questions so far, but, to the best of my ability = through the=20 grace of God, I will gladly work on the others.[91]

Considering=20 how much both Guibert and Villers seem to pester her for the solutions, = it is=20 worth noting that her tone remains earnest, not admonishing as so often = her=20 letters relate. This is perhaps another indication that she did not want = to=20 drive away prospective candidates.

One = wonders=20 what else Hildegard and Guibert may have discussed. It is plausible that Guibert, = after=20 learning of her Cistercian plan, was asked if he knew any likely = candidates for=20 a Cistercian mother house. = As for=20 his own position as prepositus, he would need permission from his own = abbot at=20 Gembloux, who apparently visited Hildegard in 1176 on his way back from = St.=20 Quirin.[92]

Regardless,=20 shortly after the events exchanged in their correspondence, Guibert = became=20 prepositus of the Rupertsberg. = As a=20 Benedictine he satisfied the requirement as abbatial representative of=20 Disibodenberg, while his Cistercian sympathies enabled him to minister=20 Cistercian practices to Hildegard and her community.

CHAPTER 4: Daily Worship

Understanding=20 Hildegard=92s chants and the original Cistercian chants is dependent = upon our=20 perception of the liturgy as it stood during her lifetime. This section includes an = overview of the=20 musical works which contribute to the daily celebration of the Divine=20 Office.

The Divine Office - Monastic=20 cursus

Life = in a=20 medieval monastery centered upon the celebration of the Divine = Office. The Divine Office was a daily = ritual=20 divided into =93hours=94 in which all 150 Psalms were chanted each = week. Seven times a day the members = gathered=20 in communal prayer, reading from the Bible and singing praises to = God. While it is not necessary to = provide a=20 overview of the entire office here, the hours known as Matins = (alternately the=20 Night Office or Vigils) which began the day at 2:00 a.m, along with = Lauds (5:30=20 a.m) and Vespers (5:30 p.m.), must be noted as they are the most = musically=20 elaborate.[93] It was in these hours that the = chant=20 types known as antiphons = and responsories were chanted.[94]

These = chants of=20 the Divine Office were collected in an antiphonal which, because of = the large=20 number of chants it contained for the entire liturgical calendar, was = usually=20 divided into two books, the temporale=20 and the sanctorale. Although there is variance in = extant=20 sources, the general distinction is that the temporale consisted of = those days=20 from Advent through the summer Sundays.[95] The sanctorale consisted of = the feast=20 days for the saints beginning with Andrew (30 November) and ending with=20 Saturninus (29 November). =20 Additionally, chants for the Common of saints, Office of the Dead = and=20 Little Office of the Virgin, were usually added to the sanctorale. = [96]

The = antiphonal=20 however is not the only book of chant repertoire required to celebrate = the=20 Divine Office. Also = required were=20 the Psalter, which = contained the Book of Psalms and the hymnal. It is the authenticity of the = chants=20 used in the antiphonal and hymnal which was the focus of the Cistercian=20 liturgical reform.

Antiphons and Responsories of=20 Matins

Antiphons make=20 up the majority of medieval chant. =20 There are however many types of antiphons but the following are = worth=20 mentioning. Psalm = antiphons are=20 typically short melodic works which =93bookend=94 the recitation of = psalms. Their=20 prose texts are often drawn from those Psalms or other parts of the = Bible to set=20 the proper occasion for the particular feast or ferial day. There are also more elaborate = antiphons=20 which seem stand alone from the psalms. =20 The most common of these are the Invitatory Antiphons chanted at = the=20 start of Matins, and the ornate Processional and Votive Antiphons.[97] Of the three antiphons for = this study,=20 Barbara Newman has classified Spiritus=20 Sanctus uiuificans and Karitas=20 habundat as psalm antiphons and Laus=20 trinitati as a votive antiphon.[98] Responsories are the long and = ornate=20 chants associated with the three nocturns of Matins. As their name suggests, they = involve a=20 call and response, alternating between the text of the respond and = individual=20 versicles and concludes with a chanting of the lesser doxology, i.e. Gloria Patri.

The = general=20 practice of Matins during major feast days and Sundays was divided into = three=20 distinct parts. The first = part is=20 the opening which always contained the versicle Deus in adiutorium, an = invitatory=20 antiphon to be chanted with Psalm 94, and a hymn. The second part = consisted of=20 three nocturns. The first = two=20 nocturns consisted of six (6) antiphons and psalms followed by a = versicle then=20 four (4) lessons with responsories. =20 The third nocturn consisted of 3 antiphons plus three canticles, = a=20 versicle then four (4) lessons with responsories. The third part is the closing=20 section. It began with = the Te deum followed by a Gospel = reading the=20 Te decet laus a collect = reading and=20 the three versicles Dominus = vobiscum,=20 Benedicamus domino, and Fidelum animae.[99]

As Matins is a lengthy service, = many=20 communities took to abbreviating portions during the summer season, = leaving more=20 daylight hours for the necessary work of the community. This was accomplished by = shortening the=20 first nocturn, sometimes replacing it all together with a chapter = reading from=20 Scripture and reciting only part of the psalm with the antiphons.[100]=20

The Cistercian Liturgical=20 Reform

The=20 relationship between Hildegard=92s cantus with that of the Cistercian = liturgy has=20 often been dismissed as implausible. =20 Critics assert that her music was much too florid and = theoretically=20 unregulated for the Cistercian spiritual aesthetic. Rarely does this criticism = acknowledge=20 the liturgical reform within the Cistercian community during Hildegard=92s = lifetime.

Support for=20 such criticism originates from encyclopedic references which cite the Tonale of St. Bernard (ca. 1147), a work which indicates = the unique=20 theory used to correct problems of the first attempt at the Cistercian=20 liturgical reform. A = perusal of=20 existing Cistercian antiphonals from the third quarter of the = 12^th=20 century reveals that within their communities, practice and theory did = not=20 always coincide.

As a = measure of=20 control, new statutes were continually added to enforce or clarify what=20 constituted Cistercian practice. Among the numerous reports in the Statuta Capitulorum Generalium = Ordinis=20 Cisterciensis, many were in the form of reprimands for severe = misbehavior of=20 monks or abbots who became lax in their duty of enforcement.[101]

In = the case of=20 liturgy, the General Chapter of 1199 forbad rhythmic poetry by = Cistercian=20 monks.[102]=20 Citing examples beginning as early as 1138 and continuing well into the=20 13^th century, Paden suggests that the prohibition against rythmos was not intended to = forbid all=20 poetry, but rather certain types, namely vernacular and secular poetry = of a=20 polemical nature, as well as vernacular translations of the Song of Songs.[103] Another statute dating from = 1217=20 directed =93=85the abbots of Neath and Flaxley to reform the custom of = part-singing=20 in choir which was in use at Dore and Tintern.=94[104]=20 It is not until the mid-13^th century that a widespread common = practice appears among the communities.

Development of the Cistercian=20 Liturgy

During=20 Hildegard=92s lifetime, there were four main stages of development in = the=20 Cistercian liturgy:

1)=20 Molesme Liturgy (1098-ca1119) - that is the Benedictine liturgy = taken=20 when the first Cistercians set out from Molesme to Citeaux in 1098.

2)=20 First Cistercian Liturgical Reform (RI) (ca1112-1132?) adopted = during the=20 abbacy of Stephen Harding who sought the undisputed authority of = Ambrosian Hymns=20 from Milan and=20 =93Gregorian=94 Chant from the Metz Antiphonal.[105]

3)=20 Second Cistercian Liturgical Reform (RII) (ca1132?-1147) =96 = Bernard of=20 Clairvaux, Guido d=92Eu and Richard of Vauclair developed the Cistercian = theory to=20 correct the errors of RI. = They also=20 added chants and Feasts to the liturgy.

4)=20 Minor Reform and Compilation of the Mother Liturgy (ca. = 1174-1190) =96=20 Dijon, Bibliotheque Municipale = 114. This was intended to be = the Master=20 copy against which all Cistercian communities could be compared. Unfortunately the hymnal, = gradual, and=20 antiphonal have been missing since the 16^th century.[106] (N.B. This timeframe coincides = with the=20 dates that both the Dendermonde and Riesencodex were compiled, and more=20 importantly the date when D was sent to the Cistercian Abbey in = Villers.)

For the purpose of this = study, a=20 somewhat detail background in RI and RII needs to be addressed.

The First Recension Liturgy - = Ambrosian=20 Hymns and the Metz Antiphonal

As = the=20 Cistercian movement began with the intention to do away with the = excesses=20 associated with the Cluniac Benedictines in order to follow a strict = observation=20 of the Rule of St. Benedict. It makes sense, in light of the above = complexities,=20 that the chanting of the Divine Office, an essential ritual of = cenobiotic life,=20 was also subject to reform.

By = the end of=20 the 11^th century, the continuous evolution in liturgical = practices=20 and added Feasts had for the Cistercians a negative impact upon their = commitment=20 to caritas. The hours of the Divine Office = became=20 more elaborate and encroached upon other facets of monastic life. This = became a=20 source of frustration among the early Cistercians which they attempted = to=20 resolve by finding a reliable, authentic source to follow.[107]

Their = belief=20 was that in order to strictly follow the Rule of St. Benedict as = Benedict=20 himself had practiced it, they needed be able to chant like him = too. To accomplish this they needed = to=20 eliminate as much of the previous 600 years of liturgical emendations as = possible, limiting chants only to those which could have been known by = Benedict=20 or Pope Gregory I.[108]

An = example of=20 their strict observance is found in the reform of the Cistercian hymnal. = There=20 are four references in the Rule of St. Benedict equating the terms hymn with Ambrosianum. The reformers surmised that = this meant=20 the hymns composed by St. Ambrose and necessarily sent a delegation to=20 Milan to collect=20 them. They returned with=20 thirty-four texts and nineteen melodies most of which were unfamiliar to = them.[109] The need for supplemental = hymns was=20 apparent.

Likewise as=20 Metz = was at that=20 time considered host to the most authentic practice of Gregorian chant, = they=20 sent delegations there to copy its antiphonals and graduals. What they found in Metz however = was chant full=20 of errors, often with texts which made no sense and melodies which = seemed=20 wander.[110] Stephen Harding however held = to the=20 belief that this chant was nevertheless undisputed authority. For him, =93=85auctoritas [authority] cannot = be wrong=20 even if its functioning eludes human reason.=94[111]

Citing Deficiencies in RI =96 = Transition to=20 RII

Peter = Abelard=20 provides a lengthy account regarding the deficiencies of the early = Cistercian=20 Liturgy. Incensed by = Bernard=92s=20 criticism of his own textual variations used in the liturgy at the = Paraclete,=20 Abelard defends his position then follows with an attack upon the = absurdity of=20 the Cistercian Hymnal.[112]

Some = notable=20 deficiencies were that RI lacked a hymn for the Holy Innocents; instead = a hymn=20 on December 28 was dedicated to several martyrs. The Evangelists also lacked a = hymn. =93As for =93holy women=94, = Abelard=92s=20 reference surely includes the holiest of them all, the Magdalene, who = was,=20 indeed, neither virgin nor martyr. =20 In the earliest RI witnesses, her hymn is, irony of ironies, the = common=20 hymn for virgins; though at a later date =96 perhaps closer to the date = of the=20 redaction of R II =96 a cento-hymn was pieced together for her from the = R I Palm=20 Sunday hymn.=94 [113]

One = other=20 important point must be made. = The=20 liturgical practice at the Paraclete had been based upon the Cistercian = liturgy=20 of RI. Waddell surmises = that its=20 lack of appropriate hymns is perhaps the same reason Abelard wrote his = own=20 collection of hymns for the Paraclete.[114] As will be shown, a = number of=20 Hildegard=92s existing chants also serve to fill =93gaps=94 in the early = Cistercian=20 liturgy, such as in this case, the Holy Innocents. It might thus be assumed that = she was at=20 the very least familiar with Cistercian practice if not practicing it in = her own=20 community.

The Second Recension Liturgy =96 = Corrections=20 and Theory

Abelard=92s=20 criticism did not fall on deaf ears. The deficiencies he cited were no = doubt=20 understood by the Cistercians for sometime. In the early 1130s, Bernard = of=20 Clairvaux, assisted by Guido d=92Eu and Richard of Vauclair developed a = Cistercian=20 theory to correct the errors of RI. =20 To undertake this task, however they needed to reconsider just = what=20 authority was.

The = view of=20 authority as understood by the RII reformers seems as a reversal to = Stephen=20 Harding. The RII = reformers believed=20 that the errors in the Metz antiphonal were the result of = human=20 corruption and therefore the liturgy needed to be corrected through ratio [reason]. In Maitre=92s words, = =93=85authority itself is=20 corrupted by human activity, and thus everything must be reconstructed,=20 beginning with a revelation of divine order in its application to = music.=94[115] Jamie Younkin elaborates on = Bernard=92s=20 particular kind of ratio = which is=20 =93=85not merely reason gained through human logic, but reason gained = from divine=20 insight through silent communion with God. =20 Truth discovered by this type of reason, which is possible = without the=20 aid of tradition or ancient sources, is more reliable=85because it is = divinely=20 inspired in a direct first-hand fashion. =20 It does not conform to the logic taught by fallible men but is = seen to be=20 in complete accord with nature, the untouched perfection of God = himself.=94[116] In any event, the result was = an a priori notion of what = constituted=20 authentic chant.

In = order to be=20 authentic, Gregorian chant and Ambrosian hymns must conform to these = basic=20 rules:[117]=20

* Modal=20 Unity =96 chant melodies were modified so that they remained within = a single=20 mode and not modulate=85

*=20 Avoidance of B-flat in notation =96 the solution was often to = transpose the=20 chant so that the semi-tone interval of A to B-flat, became E to F

*=20 Restricted Range - Chants edited were not to extend beyond a 10 = note=20 range and there was to be no mixing of plagal and authentic modes within = the=20 chant.

*=20 Repetition of words and music to be avoided

*=20 Reduction of Long melismas or rather anything which distracted = from the=20 text.

These new=20 rules were described in both the Tonale=20 Sancti Bernardi and the Regulae de=20 Arte Musica, both of which are now considered to be the work of = Guido=20 d=92Eu.[118]

In = addition=20 to correcting the RI Liturgy, Bernard and his team added newly composed = chants=20 and Feasts to the liturgy. = These=20 new Feasts included a complete office for the evangelists and a proper = for Mary=20 Magdalene. The new chants = for the=20 Virgin Mary were modeled on texts from the Song of Songs, a favorite = subject of=20 Bernard.

Bearing=20 in mind that Cistercian music theory was developed as a method to = restore pre-existing chant found in = the Metz=20 Antiphonal and the Ambrosian Hymnal, it is not easy to identify if they = applied=20 this theory to newly = composed=20 chants. In the new chants = only the=20 rule of restricted range appears to be consistently heeded. Before proceeding to a closer=20 examination of these theoretical principles, it is important to expound = on the=20 need for the expansion of chant repertoire as it relates to the Rule of = St.=20 Benedict, and expose other clues into the argument of a Cistercian = liturgical=20 practice at the Rupertsberg.

Hypothesis of Hildegard=92s = Cistercian=20 Liturgy

Although=20 Hildegard=92s cantus cum = melodia=20 represent a collection of chants composed for a variety of purposes over = a=20 thirty year span, the comparative analysis will proceed within the = context of=20 the Cistercian liturgical reform of the Divine Office.[119] The reason is that the = detailed theory=20 regarding the composition (and correction) of liturgical chant would = most likely=20 have been used as a measure of authenticity by the Cistercian brothers = of=20 Villers.

I = suggest two=20 hypotheses on the liturgical chant argument that must be = considered. First, the selection of chants = included=20 within the Dendermonde and the Riesencodex might reflect the Feast = offices which=20 were added to the Cistercian liturgy during her life at the = Rupertsberg. The records of the = Statuta Capitulorum for this = period are=20 scant. In fact between = 1150 and=20 1179, the critical years for this study, no known record exists for = eleven of=20 those years. Moreover, the years 1165, 1167, and 1168 contain only = letters. The result is a continuous gap = of=20 statutes for the years 1162 through 1172.[120]

What = are=20 present in the statues are the addition of Marian chants in the 1150s, = and the=20 Office of the Trinity to the liturgy which was adopted by the General = Chapter of=20 1175.[121] Although no statute exists = regarding the=20 Feast of St. Ursula and the 11,000 Virgin Martyrs, newly composed = Cistercian=20 chants for the Feast are included by the 1174, as indicated by the = antiphonal=20 referenced for this study. It is therefore likely that the Feast was = officially=20 adopted in the late 1150s to early 1160s.

Comparing these=20 inclusions to Hildegard=92s output, it is noted that only her sixteen = existing=20 chants to Mary are rubricated as a Feast. =20 Her collective chants to Ursula and the 11,000 Virgin Martyrs = comprise=20 the next highest number with nine and finally chants dedicated to the = Trinity=20 comprise the third highest.[122]=20

A = second point=20 is that for many of the Feast offices, Hildegard provides only a = responsory and=20 an antiphon. This I = assert is due=20 to her strict observation of the Rule which as Younkin noted, = =94=85explicitly=20 prescribes four lessons and responsories per nocturn on all Sundays = without=20 exception.=94[123]=20 Practice among Benedictine houses had grown lax and typically chanted = only=20 three. By the time of the = Cistercian reform, it had become common practice in both secular and = monastic=20 use that Matins consisted of three (3) nocturns with three (3) = responsories,=20 even on Sundays. This = practice is=20 reflected in comparison between Cistercian and Benedictine antiphonals = from the=20 second half of the twelfth century.

In=20 order to return to the original number of four Responsories, Cistercians = introduced newly composed chants, as mentioned previously in this=20 discussion. One such = instance is=20 the responsory, Sancte dei = pretiose=20 CAO7575 [Appendix N] for the Feast of St. Stephen. It is the third responsory for = the third=20 nocturn in Utrecht NL-Uu 406, but in the Cistercian antiphonal F-Pn = n.a.lat.=20 1412, it was moved to the fourth responsory of the third nocturn with an = original Cistercian responsory, Preciosus=20 athleta domini [Appendix M] in its place. It should be noted that the=20 Cistercian reformers not = only=20 retained the same Gloria = Patri, but=20 actually used adapted its melody to the new versicle for the chant. I will return to these = responsories=20 later in this study.

As=20 it seems unlikely that a completely new antiphonal would have been = produced each=20 time a new office or supplemental antiphon was added, these new = liturgical items=20 were probably collected separately. =20 Hildegard thus may have been compelled to compose for these = offices in=20 order to supplement the Rupertsberg liturgy until a new antiphonal was=20 produced.

CHAPTER 5: Cistercian Theory in=20 Practice

By = the=20 mid-12^th century, the RII Cistercian theorists invented a = system=20 which would help them restore their liturgy to its authentic =93Gregorian=94 = state. Evidence from = manuscripts dating=20 from the second half of the 12^th-century demonstrate that = this=20 practice was not always heeded especially in regard to new chants = composed by=20 the RII reformers themselves.

To review:

* Modal=20 Unity =96 chant melodies were modified so that they remained within = a single=20 mode and not modulate

*=20 Restricted Range - Chants edited were not to extend beyond a 10 = note=20 range and there was to be no mixing of plagal and authentic modes within = the=20 chant.

*=20 Avoidance of B-flat in notation =96 the solution was often to = transpose the=20 chant so that the semi-tone interval of A to B-flat, became E to F

*=20 Repetition of words and music to be avoided

*=20 Reduction of Long melismas or rather anything which distracted = from the=20 text.

Modal=20 Unity and Restricted Range

As=20 stated in the previous chapter, restricted range is the only practice = which=20 appears to have been consistently heeded by the RII theorists. This was evidently partially = due to the=20 convenience of sight reading especially where, as in the case of the = manuscript=20 used in this study, only the F and C lines are inked.

The=20 rules regarding modal unity and restricted range are inextricably linked = in the=20 Cistercian concept of maneria. Maneria corresponds to the = older=20 classification of modes in Western chant: =20 protus, deuterus, tritus, and tetrardus. At the core of each maneria is = the compositio, which corresponds = to the=20 modal octave.

Maneria is further defined = =93=85by the=20 disposition of the notes of the scale used below (despositio) and above=20 (elevatio) the final note.=94[124] The elevatio consists of the tone = and one=20 half or two tones which lie above the final. The despositio is the tone or half = tone=20 which lies below the final. =20 Combined with the complete octave of the compositio, eleven distinct = pitches are=20 available per authentic mode.[125]

Each=20 of the four maneria consists of two modes, authentic and plagal. Further each maneria has two = finals, for=20 instance in Protus, D is the final for the authentic mode and A is the = final for=20 plagal. A guiding = principle of=20 plagal modes is the role of the mediatrix. In the protus plagal mode, D = becomes the=20 mediatrix, with its despositio three=20 tones below and its elevatio four=20 tones above, thus indicating A as the final. The RII reformers seem to = indicate that=20 plagal modes were not to extend beyond the octave. There was to be no=20 co-mingling of authentic and plagal modes.

In=20 describing maneriae, I have devised both a shorthand numerical indicator = and a=20 more specific modal indicator using letter names. For instance a chant which = uses the=20 maximum despositio, compositio, and elevatio will be indicated = numerically:=20 (1) 8 (2), where the left hand number is despositio and =938=94 = signifies the full=20 octave of the compositio. = To=20 indicate mode, despositio = and elevatio are designated by = their maximum=20 letter name whereas the compositio=20 designates the apparent final and co-final of the mode, unless co-final = is=20 unclear in which case the final and its octave will be given. For = instance,=20 protus D with maximum despositio and=20 elevatio is designated: (C) = D-a=20 (f). Refer to Figure 5-1 = for a=20 scalar rendering of all maneriae.

Figure 5-1

One=20 peculiarity that stands out in Cistercian chant is the recognition of C = as a=20 final. This was not = recognized in=20 the standardized system of church modes used in other liturgical = practices.[126] It is however commonly found = in altered=20 Cistercian chant and no fewer than eight are found in the chant = repertoire of=20 the Dendermonde Codex. = Moreover=20 both the Cistercians and Hildegard maintain that B is the co-final of = mode 3=20 rather than C.

Cistercians=20 also allowed for transposition of authentic mode to the co-final, that = is=20 authentic tritus (aka mode = 5) could=20 begin on C applying the rules of authentic mode maneria, for instance = (B) C-G=20 (e). The most common = reason for=20 transposition was to avoid B-flat in the notation.

Avoidance of = B-flat

The=20 solution was often to transpose the chant so that the semi-tone interval = of A to=20 B-flat, became E to F. In = the=20 Dendermonde codex, there are twenty-nine chants which correspond with = this=20 rule. In the new = Cistercian chants=20 however there are still examples where this rule was not followed.

Figure 5-2

This=20 responsory for the Common of One Virgin appears to break two rules of = the RII=20 reform. One is the = inclusion of b-flat; the other is the = mingling of=20 modes. Regardless, the = inclusion of=20 the b-flat follows the = common=20 practice of avoiding the tritone with F as well as serving as an = =93upper=20 neighbor=94 to the a.

The=20 charge of co-mingling modes is a little more difficult to explain. The responsory is built in = mode 8 where=20 G and D serve as finals. This section, designated as = R2, is the=20 repeated =93refrain=94 chanted after each verse. The section begins by intoning = the=20 cofinals, but then extends up to a on=20 the syllable =93-ru-.=94 = Here the=20 ambiguity of mode sets in. = While=20 the upper b-flat would tend = to=20 indicate a as the final, it = becomes=20 clear that its purpose is to avoid the tritone with F, which itself is serving as = the lower=20 neighbor designating G as = the true=20 final. This is confirmed = by the=20 upper neighbor of a prior = to the=20 final syllable =93=96rit.=94 = The=20 remaining section clarifies mode 8 with the introduction of the b-natural. As will be shown in the = following=20 chapter, this is not unlike the way Hildegard addresses these = compositional=20 issues.

Repetition and = Reduction

Concerning=20 the repetition of words and music, the Cistercian reformers often used = the same=20 or similar melodies for both verse and Gloria Patri within the same = responsory.=20 Refer to the appendix Filie iherusalem nuntiate = [Appendix L]=20 and Preciosus athleta = domini=20 [Appendix M]. = Waddell = explains that in=20 the earliest versions of the Cistercian Offices, =93=85the same verse = was sometimes=20 repeated several times, but for some reason the Cistercians were = unwilling to=20 tolerate this repetition. =20 Accordingly they substituted for the repetitions new verses, = verses=20 usually taken from the sources at their disposal but sometimes created = by=20 themselves.=94[127]

It is = the=20 reduction of long melismas or more specifically anything which = distracted from=20 the text that is the charge most often levied against Hildegard. This belief apparently has its = root in a=20 letter from Bernard to the Victorines of Montier-Ramey:

If=20 there is singing the melody should be grave and not flippant or uncouth. = It=20 should be sweet and not frivolous; it should both enchant the ears and = move the=20 heart; it should lighten sad hearts and soften angry passions; and it = should=20 never obscure but enhance the sense of the words. Not a little spiritual = profit=20 is lost when the minds are distracted from the sense of the words by = frivolity=20 of the melody, when more is conveyed by the modulations of the voice = than by the=20 variations of the meaning.[128]

Long=20 melismatic passages (jubilatio) were=20 typically placed at toward the end of the Alleluia Mass chants where = they serve=20 to =93=85represent the music of the angelic hosts.=94[129]

The problem=20 with a definition such as this is its subjectivity. For instance how are the words = enhanced=20 in the following?

Figure 5-3

Elision=20 between Quia amore not = withstanding,=20 what enhancing purpose is there in melismatic application to such a word = as quia? The treatment of amore is more in lines with = what one=20 might expect, especially in a responsory which, considering its subject = matter=20 and text drawn from the Song of Songs, may indeed have been written by = Bernard=20 of Clairvaux himself.

Responsory=20 for the Feast of the Assumption of Mary

R: Filie iherusalem nuntiate dilecto = quia amore=20 langueo [Songs 5:8]

V: Osculetur me osculo oris sui = [Songs=20 1:1]

R:=20 Daughters of Jerusalem tell my beloved because I = languish in=20 his love.

V: Let me=20 be kissed with the kiss of his mouth.

The Cistercian=20 responsory for St. Stephen has an even more remarkable example, a 34 = note=20 melisma on the word =93hoc.=94

Figure 5-4

F-Pn n.a.lat. 1412 = =96 fol.4r-v =96=20 Preciosus athleta = domini

This too is=20 longer and indeed less than =93enhancing=94 in what we tend to find with = Hildegard.

It = has been=20 demonstrated that a significant amount of subjectivity in what = constituted=20 authentic was used by the RII reformers in composing their own = chants. It is plausible then that to = her many=20 Cistercian contemporaries who did indeed respect her spiritual = authority,=20 Hildegard=92s chant was acceptable on the merits of its divinely = inspired content=20 alone. The Cistercian = preference=20 for divine knowledge over the limits of temporal reason would preclude = any=20 contradictions between her chant and the theories of liturgical = reform. This position is echoed by = Chrysogonus=20 Waddell who comments on the manner conducted by Bernard=92s team when = editing the=20 Ambrosian hymn-texts, =93One simply does not =93correct=94 a doctor of = the Church such=20 as Ambrose. To do so would be the equivalent of correcting the Holy = Spirit,=20 whose mouthpiece and amanuensis Ambrose was.=94[130]

What follows=20 is the application of their theory to Hildegard=92s repertoire.

Cistercian Theory Applied to=20 Hildegard

As=20 noted in the previous chapter, the only significant argument that can be = made=20 against Hildegard=92s =93Cistercianicity=94 is that in a number of her = chants, the=20 ambitus falls outside of the acceptable range of Cistercian.[131] This could be due to the fact, = noting=20 the aforementioned partial Tonale Sancti=20 Bernardi, that the rule regarding maximum range was not known to = her.

Even=20 so, what is found in many of those chants which extend beyond the = prescribed maneria is that only once do = they tend=20 to extend beyond the elevatio. In such cases it is usually = extended to=20 the final at its peak and = usually for=20 the purpose of textual enhancement. =20 When it extends below the normal despositio, it extends to the = cofinal=20 and then usually placed in a weak position (i.e. on a punctum at the end = of climacus) apparently serving = as to=20 clarify the final and = thereby=20 modality.

Still=20 other chants remain within the acceptable range of the maneria by = eliminating=20 the despositio but then = making up for=20 the difference by adding the subtracted tone or half tone to the = top.

This=20 is the case with St. Rupert Sequence, O=20 ierusalem aurea which appears only partially in Dendermonde.

Figure 5-5

As = I have=20 classified it, this sequence appears to be composed in a plagal mode of = tetrardus. That is G as the final and D as co-final. The tonal space = is=20 defined by descending motion of G to=20 D. In fact the first three = stanzas of this=20 sequence are set within a 5 note ambitus, exploring the narrow range = between G and D, with a serving as an upper neighbor = to=20 G. It is only at = the=20 beginning of the second verse that the upper diapente is explored (with e serving to define d)

Figure 5-6

Finally=20 after establishing solid plagal mode for the first six verses, it is in = the=20 seventh verse where she seems to break into the authentic. This occurrence is the = one and=20 only time in this sequence where the chant extends to the upper final g. =20 This is found in the last versicle on the word cum =93=85quod est cum publicanis et = peccatoribus=85=94 which=20 itself is nested between a thought framed within a d tonal space and therefore = remains=20 plagal in character.

Figure 5-7

This=20 sequence serves as an example of Hildegard=92s =93modulation and = tonicization.=94 As mentioned earlier, there = are times=20 when Hildegard=92s chants extend down a perfect 4^th. In this, Hildegard tends break = the=20 Cistercian rules by blurring the distinction between authentic and = plagal modes,=20 most often by applying despositio to=20 the plagal final of the same maneria.

For=20 instance, protus plagal on = A becomes authentic (lack of raised = 6^th=20 not withstanding)

Figure 5-8

But this is=20 usually then added to its co-final with protus authentic on D. =20 Allowing her a total range from G to f. =20 There are other instances too, which will be shown later in Karitas habundat, in which = Hildegard=20 seems to =93tonicize=94 from another mode, again in keeping with = Bernard=92s=20 subjective position, to enhance the meaning of the text.

Applying Cistercian Maneria to=20 Hildegard

Indicating=20 her belief that Hildegard did not set out to compose a song cycle and = that it is=20 virtually impossible to determine =93=85conclusive dating of any = individual piece,=94=20 Barbara Newman presents a possible division of Hildegard=92s chant into = three=20 periods. The earliest = layer of=20 Hildegard=92s work, she surmises, consist of the Ordo Virtutem and fourteen = (14) texts in=20 honor of the celestial hierarchy, 12 of which are set to melody. She establishes the middle = layer as=20 including twenty-six (26) texts (aka the Miscellany) which appear = elsewhere=20 within the Riesencodex interspersed with the aforementioned = fourteen. These include most of the = Marian chants=20 as well as a hymn and sequence to the Holy Spirit.[132] The final layer consists of = the=20 remaining thirty-plus works which include those dedicated to various = local=20 saints.[133]

Although=20 I am not completely in agreement as to the possibility of dating of the=20 twenty-six texts of the miscellany absolutely, her conclusions are in = great part=20 supported when analyzing her melodies. =20 Based upon the research in this study, I have expanded Newman=92s = division=20 into four layers of development.

Early Chants = (-1150)

That Odo=20 of Soissons wrote to her sometime around 1148-49, just as Bernard of = Clairvaux=20 was beginning the second recension of the liturgy. This first layer of 12 chants = in=20 [appendix early chants] represents compositions prior to her move to = Rupertsberg=20 in 1150.[134]

The Symphonia = (1151-58)

The Miscellany is an approximation = of those=20 chants which indicate the Symphonia=20 she wrote between 1151 and 1158.[135] Hildegard may have broken with = the=20 Hirsau liturgy practiced at Disibodenberg at the time of her move and = adopted a=20 version of the Cistercian liturgy. Daily practice of these chants may = have had a=20 subconscious effect on her compositional output.

Office Chants and Commissions=20 (ca1150-1170)

These=20 include the Marian and Ursuline chants. =20 It is also assumed that during this time she wrote chants for = other=20 communities, including the Disibod office chants for her parent = community at=20 Disibodenberg.

The Cistercian Chants (after=20 1170)

This is=20 the time I suggest when Hildegard and Volmar undertook their Cistercian = plan and=20 perhaps knowingly applied maneria in=20 new compositions.

In = order to=20 narrow down the dates of when the chants may have been composed, I cross = referenced the texts which appear in Scivias and the Miscellany and = then=20 applied the theory of Cistercian maneria to each chant found, = or assumed=20 to have once been, in the Dendermonde Codex. [Appendix C]. Considering the melody only, = fourteen=20 (14) of Hildegard=92s chants adhere to strict application of Cistercian = maneria:

Table 5-1: Chants which meet Cistercian criteria

Incipit

Dedication

Genre

Final

Maneria

Adjusted

O uis = eternitatis=20 (M)[136]=

Creator

Responsory

(D) E- b=20 (g)

(1) 8=20 (2)

O uirtus=20 Sapientie

Wisdom

Antiphon

(D) E- b=20 (g)

(1) 8=20 (2)

O cruor = sanguinis=20 (M)

Christ

Antiphon

(C) D =96 = a=20 (d)

(1)=20 8

O eterne=20 deus

God

Antiphon

(D) E =96 b=20 (g)

(1) 8=20 (2)

O Uirga = Mediatrix=20 (M)

Mary

Alleluia

(D) E =96 = b=20 (g)

(1) 8=20 (2)

Spiritus = sanctus=20 uiuificans

Holy=20 Spirit

Antiphon

(G) a =96 e=20 (a=92)

(1)=20 8

Laus = trinitati=20 *

Trinity

Antiphon

(D) E =96 b=20 (e)

(1)=20 8

O uiriditas = digiti=20 dei

Disibod

Responsory

(D) E =96 b=20 (g)

(1) 8=20 (2)

O felix = apparicio=20 (M)

Rupert

Antiphon

(D) E =96 b=20 (g)

(1) 8=20 (2)

{S}[137]=20 O pulch[r]e facies (M)

De=20 uirginibus

Antiphon

(D) E =96 b = (g)=20

(1) 8=20 (2)

O rubor=20 sanguinis

Ursula

Antiphon

(1) 8 (2)=20

Unde=20 quocumque

Ursula

Antiphon

(G) a=20 =96 e (a=92)

(1)=20 8

Aer enim=20 uolat

Ursula

Antiphon

(D) E =96 b=20 (e)

(1)=20 8

O uirgo=20 ecclesia

In = dedicatione=20 ecclesie

Antiphon

(D) E =96 a=20 (e)

(1)=20 8

Conversely there = are nine=20 chants which absolutely do not meet Cistercian criteria:

Table 5-2 = : Chants=20 which do not meet Cistercian criteria

Folio

Incipit

Dedication

Genre

Final

Maneria

Adjusted

f.159r

{S}O gloriosissimi = lux

Living Light

Ant

E **

(G, D) E =96 b = (g)

(6) 8 = (2)

f. 159r-159v

{S} O vos = angeli

Angels

Res

E **

(C, D) E =96 b = (d=92)

(2) 8 = (7)

f. = 159v-f.160r

{S} O spectabiles = viri

Patriarchs

Ant

E **

(B, D) E =96 e (g,=20 a=92)

(3) 8 = (3)

f. 160v-161r

{S} O choors [cohors]=20 militie

Apostles

Ant

G **

(D) G =96 d = (c=92=92)

(3) 8 = (3)

f.163v

{S} Vos flores = rosarum

Martyrs

Res

C *

(A) C =96 G (d, = g)

(2) 8 (1, = 5)

f. 163v-164r

{S} O vos = imitatores

Confessors

Res

C *

(F,A) C =96 G = (c)

(4,2) 8

(2,1) 8 = (2)

f.165r-165v

{S} O nobilissima=20 uiriditas

Virgins

Res

(F,G) c =96 c=92 = (d=92)

(4,2) 8 = (1)

f.165v-166r

O dulcissime amator = (M)

Virgins

Sim

(A,C,D) E=96 a (g,=20 a=92)

(3) 8 = (2,3)

f.168v-169r

O ecclesia = oculi

Ursula?

Seq

(F,G) a =96 e (a=92,=20 c=92)

(2) 8=20 (2)

Although=20 this is not a perfect system, as it is based in the measurement of ambitus, it does demonstrate a = general=20 trend. When compared to = the=20 pre-Rupertsberg chants [Appendix F], seven (7) out of the original = twelve (12)=20 fall outside the practice of accepted Cistercian maneria. These seven chants account for = the=20 majority of the nine (9) chants total which absolutely do not meet = Cistercian maneria. Of the remainging two, O dulcissime amator, which is=20 represented in the Miscellany, may have been composed early on in the Symphonia. O=20 ecclesia oculi, the sequence for St. Ursula, represents the only = chant which=20 is not otherwise accounted for as either a pre-Rupertsberg or Miscellany = chant. It is included in = this list=20 by the occasional excursion down to F.

Conversely=20 there of the chants which do meet absolute criteria of which only one, = the psalm=20 antiphon for the virgins, O = pulchre=20 facies was composed prior to the move to Rupertsberg. The instance = of a few=20 miscellany pieces further tends to support that Hildegard=92s adopted a = more=20 refined aesthetic after her move from Disibodenberg which I propose was=20 influenced by the adoption of the Cistercian liturgy in 1150.

One=20 other important note which concludes this basic overview, By taking into = account=20 those chants which either drop down to the final (a la plagal mode) = either once=20 (which occurs frequently) or by temporarily displacing the mediatrix as final, the number of = acceptable chants=20 escalates from fourteen (14) to fifty-two (52). Finally adding in those = chants=20 which remain within the 11 note maximum ambitus, the total number of = acceptable=20 chants appearing in the Dendermonde codex is fifty-six (56) out of = sixty-five=20 (65).

An=20 important distinction which must not go unmentioned is the = representation of=20 chant genres. Considering = only=20 those chants which may have been intended for the Divine Office, the = earliest=20 layer is represented by three (3) antiphons and four (4) = responsories. The chants which meet = Cistercian=20 criteria weigh heavily on the side of antiphon (eleven) compared to = responsory=20 (two). This in itself = coincides=20 with the generalizations of the chant genres. Psalm antiphons tend to be = brief for the=20 purpose of preparing the reciting tone of the Psalm, whereas = responsories and=20 votive antiphons tend to be melodically elaborate. While Hildegard=92s = performance intention=20 for all of her cantus cum = melodia=20 eludes scholars, it does seem clear that the antiphons to Ursula were = intended=20 as psalm antiphons for the Divine Office. =20 Of the remaining and indeed all of the chants, it is crucial to = consider=20 the poetic and melodic units prior to determining liturgical or = extra-liturgical=20 use and influence.

For=20 this purpose I will focus on the three antiphons to the Holy Spirit = which=20 demonstrate some of the most striking parallels with Cistercian = practices.
CHAPTER 6: The = Cistercian=20 Chants to the Holy Spirit

Perhaps no=20 aspect of Divinity is more important to Hildegard as the Holy = Spirit. The Holy Spirit is after all = the source=20 of her authority, but if the extant examples of Hildegard=92s chant are = any=20 indication, it appears, through the course of this study, that only two = works=20 the hymn, O ignee spirite = laus, and=20 sequence O ignis spiritus = paracliti,=20 were written prior to her Cistercian plan. =20

The three=20 chants to the Holy Spirit Spiritus=20 sanctus uiuificans, Karitas = habundat, and Laus = trinitati=20 appear on folio 157r in the Dendermonde codex. Their presentation in the = manuscript is=20 not without problems. To = begin, the=20 rubric De sp[irit]u = s[an]c[t]o=20 appears at the bottom of f.156v indicating that, at least, Spiritus sanctus uiuificans is = intended=20 for the Holy Spirit. The = next major=20 rubric De spiritu = sa[n]c=92=92=92=92=92=92to=20 YMNUS at the bottom of f. 157r indicates the hymn to the Holy Spirit = O ignee spirite laus.

Missing are=20 rubrics indicating the genre of chant for Spiritus sanctus uiuificans = and Karitas habundat but both = include their=20 own EUOUAE. On the other = hand both=20 are indicated as antiphons in the Riesencodex but lack the EUOUAE.[138] The inclusion of the EUOUAE = lends=20 credence to the belief that these were intended as Psalm antiphons. Further inconsistencies = between the=20 versions of Karitas = habundat should=20 also be noted. Aside from the lack of the initial [K], Dendermonde = begins in=20 mode 1 but ends on E. The version in the Riesencodex = remains=20 on D. While the Riesencodex version = seems in=20 better agreement with Cistercian aesthetics, it must be noted that it = was not=20 unusual for Psalm antiphons to end on a tone away from the final. The final would be sounded at = the=20 intonation of the Psalm itself.

I = propose=20 yet another possibility in verifying the Dendermonde version as the=20 authentic. To do so = requires a look=20 at the chant which follows Karitas=20 habundat. In the = Reisencodex,=20 Karitas habundat is the = final of two=20 antiphons which are recorded for the Holy Spirit. It is followed by the psalm = antiphon for=20 St. Mary, O splendidissima=20 gemma. The hymn and = sequence to=20 the Holy Spirit appear elswhere in R on f. 473r-v, as the first of the = Mass=20 chants after the Kyrie on = f. 472v. The third antiphon to the = Holy=20 Spirit, Laus trinitati = (mode 3),=20 appears nowhere in R. In = fact,=20 Dendermonde is the only source for this antiphon, which appears without = EUOUAE=20 which is presumably the reason why Newman indicates this as a votive = antiphon.[139] Lyrically and melodically = however Laus trinitati seems no more a = votive=20 antiphon than the preceding antiphons to the Holy Spirit. Newman goes on describing this = as, =93one=20 of the composer=92s least effective lyrics, redundant and grammatically = awkward.=20 Its themes are more successfully treated in =91O gloriosissimi lux = vivens=20 angeli.=92=94 Taken as a = stand alone=20 antiphon, one could hardly disagree, but considered as the third part of = an=20 =93antiphonal trinity,=94 as I propose, its necessary inclusion rounds = out the=20 themes of the two preceeding antiphons in lyric, mode and melodic = structure.

Textual = relationships

The pecular=20 textual relationship between Spiritus=20 sanctus uiuificans and Laus = trinitati is displayed in Hildegard=92s use of verb and = participle.

Spiritus sanctus uiuificans = (D -=20 f.157r)
Spiritus sanctus uiuificans uita mouens omnia et radix est in = omni=20 creatura ac omnia de inmundicia abluit

Holy Spirit quickening life, = moving all=20 things, the root in the whole creation; has washed the impurities away = from all=20 things

Tergens=20 crimina ac ungit uulnera

Wiping clean the offenses, [the = Spirit]=20 anoints the wounds

et sic est fulgens = ac=20 laudabilis uita suscitans et resuscitans omnia.

And thus there is gleaming and = praiseworthy=20 life, erecting and resurrecting all things.

Laus trinitati (D - f.157r)

Laus=20 trinitati que sonus et uita ac creatrix omnium in uita ipsorum = est[140]

Praise be to the trinity which is = sound and=20 life and is the creator of all the things of life = itself.

Que laus=20 angelice turbe et mirus splendor archanorum

[The trinity] is the praise of the = angelic=20 host and the wonderful splendor of [sacred] secrets

que hominibus = ignota sunt, est=20 et que in omnibus uita est.

which humankind overlooks, what = [the=20 trinity] is, that is , the life in all things.

Where Spiritus Sanctus uiuificans = describes=20 the Spirit as a continually creating force, note no fewer than six = present=20 participles to describe Spirit / Life, Laus Trinitati describes the = Trinity as=20 an object for veneration. = In=20 the first, Divinity is a =93doing=94; in the last, it is an =93thing.=94 = The perspective=20 is echoed in the LDO, = =93Whereas in Scivias, Hildegard's prime = concern was=20 with Ecclesia and the type = of life=20 which Christians should follow, in Divine=20 Works she relates the life that underpins both creation and the = human person=20 to the logos or reason that became incarnate in Christ, and provides the = normative life to which humanity has to return.=94[141] When viewed in this light, the =

themes=20 expressed in these chants serve as =93bookends=94 (or antiphons for the = antiphon)=20 for Karitas habundat.[142]

Karitas habundat (D - = f.157r)

(K)aritas=20 habundat in omnia de imis excellentissima super sidera atque

Caritas abounds in all things from = the=20 depths to above the most excellent stars, and

amantissima in = omnia quia summo=20 regi osculum pacis dedit.

Most loving in all things because = to the=20 high king she has given the kiss of peace.

The text = reflects caritas who abounds in both = microcosm=20 and macrocosm, binding together the Heavens and the Earth, the Divine = with the=20 Humanity. It therefore = agrees=20 thematically with the vision of Caritas in the LDO and with the themes of Spiritus sanctus = uiuificans. =

Other textual=20 relationships between these three chants should be addressed. In Laus trinitati, the =93sonus = et vita=94 to=20 the expression of the Spirit received by the Kiss of Peace in sound, or = musical=20 praise. It thus is a = continuation=20 of Karitas habundat. One might consider =93ignota=94 as a play on words = meaning=20 without note or without =93music.=94 =20 This is a common theme throughout Hildegard=92s life and = referenced in her=20 letter to the prelates of Mainz. =20 It stands opposed to those in the know with =93sonus.=94[143]=20 The unknowable mysteries are that to which Hildegard, like John the = Evangelist,=20 is a visionary through by virtue of virginity. Laus trinitati also shows = Hildegard the=20 Evangelist who chastises those of humanity who neglect the miraculous = splendor=20 of creation. In this case = she=20 refers back to Spiritus sanctus = uiuificans, the source of the Kiss of Peace with the text =93vita ac = creatrix=20 omnium.=94 =

The spiritual=20 understanding expressed in these antiphons and its Cistercian influence = are made=20 clear in the compositional strategy of the middle (binding)=20 antiphon.

Melodic=20 Themes

Both = Spiritus sanctus uiuificans = and Laus trinitati meet virtually = all of the=20 accepted rules of RII chant theory. =20 In those instances where Spiritus=20 sanctus uiuificans appears to break the rules, it in no way deviates = from=20 the practice of the new RII chants demonstrated earlier.

When = describing the=20 music of Karitas habundat, = Marianne=20 Richert Pfau notes the opening motif outlining the = interval of a=20 7th which she mentions as being "unusual" (implying perhaps=20 Hildegard's originality?)[144]

Figure=20 6-1

The unusual = trait=20 however is not that the motif outlines a 7^th from D-c, but rather because = Hildegard=92s=20 chant is generally known to outline an octave, as indicated in the = opening motif=20 in Spiritus sanctus=20 uiuificans

Figure=20 6-2

The 7th motif = however=20 has already been shown earlier in this study as it is taken from the Gloria Patri CAO9000 which = served as the=20 basis for versicles in the new RII Responsories for the Feast of St. = Stephen.=20

Figure=20 6-3

Note that the=20 7^th is outlined with the c occurring mid-word in iudei. The Cistercians did not seem = to find any=20 problem with this melody when they wrote text to a new responsory. The b-flat in this Cistercian = responsory=20 places emphasis on Stephanum, the object due veneration at this = Feast. Willi Apel = states that=20 in chants of Mode 1, when B natural and B-flat occur in the same chant, = B-flat=20 usually occurs as a peak tone (a-b-a) or in tritone position (f-b).[145] By peak tone, it is construed = as an=20 upper neighbor, not as the goal. =

With = this in=20 mind, the opening of Laus = trinitati,=20 like Karitas habundat = outlines the=20 7^th motive from E to d before settling on b.

Figure 6-4

Here, the peak = tone e=20 serves to emphasis trinitati, also=20 the object due veneration. =

While = the germ=20 motive from CAO9000 was used both by Hildegard as well as the RII = reformers,=20 suggests that the Cistercians would have found little wrong or out of = place with=20 Karitas habundat on melodic = grounds. That is except = for the=20 aside temporary extension into the lower ambitus. This excursion however follows = Bernard=92s=20 instruction that the music is should enhance the text. With Hildegard, the music = certainly=20 does. Recalling the LDO theme that life underpins = creation=20 and the human person, caritas binds=20 together the micro and macrocosms. =20 She achieves this by emphasizing the word super [above] to the lowest = four notes=20 of the chant.

Figure 6-5

When viewed in=20 context, the binding influence behind the entire melody appears as a=20 transposition of the opening motif, outlining the 7^th between = A and G before resting on the Final = D.

Figure 6-6

Clearly by=20 enhancing the text she is also guilty of mixing modes. But there is a shared example of modal = mixture=20 between Hildegard and the Cistercians. = In the = Cistercian=20 responsory, the introduction of the octave d stands to emphasize criste, with a clear triadic = outline of=20 G-b-d before settling back = to a.

Figure=20 6-7

Hildegard = demonstrates a=20 similar emphasis by enhancing regi,=20 the king who is Christ the bridegroom. =20 The modal mixture occurs on the descent and carries through the=20 =91Bernardine=92 Song of = Songs reference=20 on osculum pacis. =

Figure 6-8=20 [146]

This Kiss of Peace is likened to = the breath=20 of the Holy Spirit granted divine revelation. =

The incident = of modal=20 mixture is not limited to this antiphon. =20 In her description of Ordo Virtutem, Margot Fassler = notes what=20 appears to be Hildegard=92s use of modality =93=85to underscore both = continuity and=20 change in the dramatic action.=94 In=20 her cited example, the patriarchs and prophets chant in a D tonality = when=20 interacting with the Virtues but then modulates to a =93=85lamenting E = sound on the=20 prophets=92 second speech.=94[147] If this is evidence of a = conscious=20 compositional process at work, so to it might be understood that the = final of E in a piece otherwise built = in D could indicate the = transformation of=20 divine understanding. The = result=20 provides a direct lead into the Divine theme expressed in the E antiphon Laus trinitati.

Regarding St.=20 Stephen

Although St. = Stephen is=20 regarded as perhaps the most important martyr in the Christian faith, it = is=20 possible that Hildegard may have had the Stephen responsories in mind = especially=20 in regard to the Caritas germ motive. =20 In this way she was equating Stephen=92s position as the = protomartyr with=20 Caritas as the prime mover = to=20 salvation.

References to = St.=20 Stephen are = noticeably=20 absent in her correspondence but knowing Hildegard=92s penchant for = drawing upon=20 ideas and words, there is perhaps an intentional relationship between = Stephen=20 the protomartyr and Caritas. =20 Stephen whose name derives from the Greek, (stephanos, =91crown=92) is = considered the=20 first martyr and deacon of the Church.[148] His feast day is December 26, = which=20 places the melody within the same part of the liturgical cycle as the = Offices of=20 St. John the Evangelist and the Holy Innocents, Hildegard=92s other = favorite=20 themes.

In = Acts,=20 Stephen is referred to as one of the seven men of good reputation who = were full=20 of the Spirit [spiritus] and wisdom [sapientia] [Acts 6:3]. The next verse echoes = Hildegard=92s own=20 life as both nun and evangelist giving herself continually to prayer and = ministry of the word [Acts 6:4]. = Stephen like Hildegard did great deeds and signs among the people = [Act=20 6:8], and most importantly the people were not able to resist the wisdom = and=20 Spirit of which she spoke. [Acts 6:10]

In = this view,=20 the interrelationship between spiritus, sapientia and caritas should be noted. In her dissertation, Pfau = compared the=20 text of the chants Karitas = habundat=20 and O uirtus sapientie with = themes in=20 the LDO, suggesting that all were composed around the same time.[149]

Further, the use=20 of melodic material from the Feast of St. Stephen might be an allusion = to the=20 auctoritas of Stephen Harding who did not change the chant even if it = did seem=20 to make no sense. It = might also be=20 allusion to the image of Caritas with the bearded figure situated as a = =93crown=94=20 upon her head. This is of course is merely=20 speculative.

The=20 relationship between Caritas and knowledge is reflected in the works of = the=20 =93other=94 early 12^th century Cistercian author, William of = Saint=20 Theiry. McGinn notes that in William=92s Expositio on the Song of = Songs, the=20 relationship =93=85in the contemplation of God where love is chiefly = operative,=20 reason passes into love and is transformed into a certain spiritual and = diving=20 understanding which transcends and absorbs all reason.=94[150] The melody, representing the = wisdom and=20 spirit of Stephen is united with a new text on Karitas and further expounded = in Laus trinitati.

Final Note On the Three=20 Antiphons

By = focusing=20 on the three (3) antiphons dedicated to the Holy Spirit, Caritas, and = the=20 Trinity (Spiritus sanctus uiuificans, Karitas habundat, = Laus=20 trinitati), it is shown that the melodies of Hildegard's later = chants are=20 characterized with restraint and all fall within the=20 acceptable practices of late 12th century Cistercian music.=20 Moreover, it has been shown that many of the motifs used = in=20 Hildegard's chant, Karitas habundat, may have in fact been = borrowed=20 from the Cistercian Responsory for the Feast of St. Stephen, = Preciosus=20 athleta domini, which is found in F-Pn n.a.lat. 1412 a late 12th = century=20 Cistercian antiphonal of Milanese provenance.

Equally=20 important is that it demonstrates that Laus=20 trinitati is not a = stand alone=20 antiphon. It was only the neglect of the compilers of R who failed to = include it=20 and altered the final of Karitas=20 habundat. = As I=20 tend to view Hildegard as primarily an evangelist, it seems to me that = her=20 meaning of ignota is one of = conscious=20 neglect by humankind (in this case possible reference to the prelates of = Mainz),=20 rather than, as Barbara Newman has translated, "unknown" to humankind=20 which implies a hidden, unknowable secret. Still if it is translated as=20 "overlooked" (my other choice) it would imply that the secrets are out = there for=20 anyone to find if they accept Caritas, reiterating the = advice she gave=20 to that excommunicated man,

Therefore, let each of the = faithful flee in=20 solicitude of soul to his own spiritual teacher to learn what he should = do, in=20 the correct faith, because the souls of the subordinates should always = be ruled=20 by the teaching of their spiritual leaders. =85Yet the priest, who has = the power=20 of binding and loosing among men, should be exceedingly careful lest he = be=20 accused by the Highest Judge of destroying his brother by = excommunicating him=20 unjustly

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

DEDICATION

ABSTRACT

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION . =20 . =20 . =20 . =20 . =20 . =20 . =20 . =20 1

LIST OF=20 TABLES

Table 5-1:=20 Chants which meet Cistercian criteria = . =20 . =20 . =20 . =20 64

Table 5-2:=20 Chants which do not meet Cistercian criteria =20 . =20 . =20 . =20 65

LIST = OF=20 FIGURES