Hildegard Von Bingen Essay
Hildegard Von Bingen was a German abbess in the Middle Ages who spent most of her life in the church as she had been promised to the church at a very early age. Along with being a very spiritual woman, Hildegard also experienced visions that were of God and his ways. These visions were the basis for most of her works that she created. Though the general population was wholly uneducated, Hildegard was exceptionally well educated because of her background in the church and her devotion to studying the word of God. Hildegard wrote many works including chants, hymns, and prayers. Some of her works were created for performance in the church, but some were for private devotional time, such as her prayers or more heartfelt chants. Ordo Virtutum, a liturgical drama, was arguably Hildegard’s most famous work. Ordo Virtutum begins with the Patriarchs and Prophets, a relatively small set of characters who only appearance in the drama. The dialogue then moves to that of
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the sixteen virtues, a group of personified heavenly attributes who try to lead the ‘main’ character, the Soul, to the ways of good. At the beginning, the Soul is enraptured by the beauty and purity of the Virtues and asks them to keep her pure so she might be like them. The Virtues are delighted that the Soul wants to join them but they tell her that she must understand that she must do the work and fight for her purity because she is a mortal living in temptation. Upon hearing this news, the Soul starts to go back on her decision and is more willing to live a free life, away from responsibilities of Heaven.
At this point, the Devil enters and uses the Soul’s desire to be free as a way to seduce her to his side and to show her that life is more appealing when you do not follow the rules of Heaven. The Soul goes with the Devil and the Virtues mourn the loss of the beautiful soul to the darkness. Near the end of the drama, the Soul returns to the virtues, broken, tattered, and weary of all the evil she had done in order to enjoy the world. She begs the Virtues to give her strength and guidance to fight off the Devil because she is tired of the evil that surrounds the Earth. The Virtues gather around the Soul and they fight the Devil and eventually win the battle in a true Good vs. Evil style.
In Barbara Newman’s 1985 article, she describes a work written by a Flemish monk in the Middle Ages named Guibert who wanted to learn more of Hildegard’s visions and works that stem from her heavenly apparitions. In his writing, Guibert describes Hildegard as a woman who is not only equal to a man, a high praise especially in this time, but also could be likened to that of the saints above who were righteous enough to earn that title upon passing. Newman also speaks of how Hildegard’s work, though stemming from these fantastic visions that only she could see, never were about her individual experience but were rather about teaching morality and faith to those who might not otherwise be able to understand this. This statement is true with the Ordo Virtutum because it too does not speak of Hildegard herself, or even her life story but rather gives the audience a visual representation of what it is like to live in a world where being Godly and moral is so much harder than being part of the world. This aspect of Ordo Virtutum is also important because of the lack of education on the whole in the Middle Ages so the people could watch this drama and understand better how to live their life for God, even if they were unable to open a Bible and read for themselves.
Audrey Ekdahl Davidson, in her 1992 article, goes through an in depth musical analysis of Hildegard’s Ordo Virtutum.
Davidson starts out her article explaining that to fully appreciate Hildegard’s music, especially one as prominent as Ordo Virtutum, one must dive into her style of music and the time period in which it was written. One thing that makes many of our modern transpositions in our world today so inauthentic is that they try too hard to modernize a piece that was made for the performer to interpret. Davidson explains that the starting note that was written was often not the note that was sung, but was merely a guideline for the performer to follow in whatever key or range felt most comfortable to them. This is just one reason why Hildegard’s music was so unique to her and to the period. Today, compositions leave much less room for interpretations, but most performers are expected to still put their own style and flair into the music which is done through vibrato, and flourishes whenever
possible.
Compared to music composed in more recent history, Hildegard’s compositions in Ordo Virtutum seem to be random, but in fact have a very natural ebb and flow to them. One of the most common happenstances in Hildegard’s writing is the presence of an ascending fifth followed by either another fifth or fourth on top of the previous fifth. This pattern of fifths and the possible fourth appears multiple times throughout the score of Ordo Virtutum. One of the ways in which Hildegard used her extensive musical knowledge to convey her message is in how she scored each of the character’s main vocal lines. For instance, the Patriarchs and Prophets have a line to the Virtues which states, “We are the roots and you the branches, the fruit of the living bud [or eye].” Hildegard creates a music that follows this type of imagery by having the Patriarchs and Prophets sing below the finalis of the Dorian mode and likewise the Virtues sing above the final of the same mode. This gives the listener or audience member even more of a feeling of the Virtues holiness from above as well as the Patriarchs and Prophets grounding in the faith. A different perspective of the Ordo Virtutum comes from Pamela Sheingorn, who, in her article discusses the role of women both in Ordo Virtutum and in the early Middle Ages in which it was written. Like Davidson, Sheingorn also believes that there is still much research and studying to be done for both Hildegard and her Ordo Virtutum. The article gives a few possible reasons for the overall lack of attention on this particular drama, including its lack of performance history, the fact that it is the earliest moralities play, Hildegard’s position in the early Middle Ages rather than Late, and the growing misogyny of her time. The fact that Hildegard lived and composed during the Early Middle Ages was a problem because there are not as much information about this period of time as there is about the later Middle Ages. This fact obviously has nothing to do with the quality of Hildegard’s work, though it does play a large role in why it has not been easy for it to be studied. The main focus of Sheingorn’s article is the role of women in Ordo Virtutum and what it meant in Hildegard’s time. One thing that may be a bit overanalyzed by some is the fact that almost all of the roles in this drama are played by females. This can simply be explained by the fact that Hildegard wrote this liturgical drama to be performed by her own nuns at her convent. This helps us to understand that she may not have had as much of an ulterior motive as some would like to think. Though the fact that women do play the majority of the roles in Ordo Virtutum may not be significant, the emphasis Hildegard places on the virginity of women is rather prominent. Hildegard’s intentional accent on the importance of virginity through the Virtue Castitas shows her belief that women were the true embodiment of what it meant and how to live a completely pure life. This would have been different from mainstream thought during this period of time because men were considered the ultimate in the faith. Finally, in his article comparing and contrasting Ordo Virtutum with latter period English morality plays, Robert Potter explains how rare and unusual Ordo Virtutum is for a liturgical drama of the Middle Ages. Potter’s reasoning behind this thought is because it was common for liturgical dramas to depict actual Biblical scenes, thereby teaching those of the church who could not read. Ordo Virtutum does not depict a Biblical scene, but rather, shows an overly simplified version of the decisions every soul must deliberate against during its time on Earth. One commonality between Ordo Virtutum and the English morality plays is their overall focus on repentance as a main theme. While it would have been easy for Hildegard to present the Soul resisting the Devil outright and doing the “right” thing, she gave the drama a more realistic spin and depicted the Soul falling prey to the Devil’s seductions. Potter points out that while Hildegard did choose to “give the Devil his due” (Potter, 1994), she made the choice to not show or explain any of the sins that were committed while the Soul was in the Devil’s grasp. As well as explaining the similarities and differences between Ordo Virtutum and the English moralities, Potter does dive into Ordo Virtutm in terms of musicality and what it means in context. One of the first musically interesting points Potter discusses is Hildegard’s decision to not have the Devil sing even a single line in the drama. This, Potter points out, would be against the idea of Hildegard and that of the time period which was that music was such a symbol and held power of purity and holiness that it would almost be blasphemous to have the Devil even utter one melody in the drama. Potter brings up the juxtaposition between this idea of the Devil being too evil for music and the 1983 song, “The Devil has all the Best Tunes”, by Prefab Sprout. This adage presents the differences in culture between modern times and the Middle Ages about how we as cultures view the Devil. In Hildegard’s age, the Devil was viewed as against everything good while in modern times, the Devil has grown to have attributes that almost make him seem cool in today’s societal standards which also has a connection as to why he is able to seduce souls so easily. The next musical point Potter discusses is the chorus that sits in the middle of the drama that is sung almost entirely by and about Castitas, the Virtue of virginity. In this instance, Potter concurs with Sheingorn’s theory that Ordo Virutum is mostly a celebration of virginity and monastic life more than a drama depicting how to make a stand against the Devil’s wiles. Not only is this the longest chorus to occur in the drama, it also is “the richest and most florid piece in this section” (Davidson, 1992). The scene that takes place during this chorus is rather bland, but the flourishes and musicality that Hildegard implements during this scene makes up for the mild stage setting.
the sixteen virtues, a group of personified heavenly attributes who try to lead the ‘main’ character, the Soul, to the ways of good. At the beginning, the Soul is enraptured by the beauty and purity of the Virtues and asks them to keep her pure so she might be like them. The Virtues are delighted that the Soul wants to join them but they tell her that she must understand that she must do the work and fight for her purity because she is a mortal living in temptation. Upon hearing this news, the Soul starts to go back on her decision and is more willing to live a free life, away from responsibilities of Heaven.
At this point, the Devil enters and uses the Soul’s desire to be free as a way to seduce her to his side and to show her that life is more appealing when you do not follow the rules of Heaven. The Soul goes with the Devil and the Virtues mourn the loss of the beautiful soul to the darkness. Near the end of the drama, the Soul returns to the virtues, broken, tattered, and weary of all the evil she had done in order to enjoy the world. She begs the Virtues to give her strength and guidance to fight off the Devil because she is tired of the evil that surrounds the Earth. The Virtues gather around the Soul and they fight the Devil and eventually win the battle in a true Good vs. Evil style.
In Barbara Newman’s 1985 article, she describes a work written by a Flemish monk in the Middle Ages named Guibert who wanted to learn more of Hildegard’s visions and works that stem from her heavenly apparitions. In his writing, Guibert describes Hildegard as a woman who is not only equal to a man, a high praise especially in this time, but also could be likened to that of the saints above who were righteous enough to earn that title upon passing. Newman also speaks of how Hildegard’s work, though stemming from these fantastic visions that only she could see, never were about her individual experience but were rather about teaching morality and faith to those who might not otherwise be able to understand this. This statement is true with the Ordo Virtutum because it too does not speak of Hildegard herself, or even her life story but rather gives the audience a visual representation of what it is like to live in a world where being Godly and moral is so much harder than being part of the world. This aspect of Ordo Virtutum is also important because of the lack of education on the whole in the Middle Ages so the people could watch this drama and understand better how to live their life for God, even if they were unable to open a Bible and read for themselves.
Audrey Ekdahl Davidson, in her 1992 article, goes through an in depth musical analysis of Hildegard’s Ordo Virtutum.
Davidson starts out her article explaining that to fully appreciate Hildegard’s music, especially one as prominent as Ordo Virtutum, one must dive into her style of music and the time period in which it was written. One thing that makes many of our modern transpositions in our world today so inauthentic is that they try too hard to modernize a piece that was made for the performer to interpret. Davidson explains that the starting note that was written was often not the note that was sung, but was merely a guideline for the performer to follow in whatever key or range felt most comfortable to them. This is just one reason why Hildegard’s music was so unique to her and to the period. Today, compositions leave much less room for interpretations, but most performers are expected to still put their own style and flair into the music which is done through vibrato, and flourishes whenever
possible.
Compared to music composed in more recent history, Hildegard’s compositions in Ordo Virtutum seem to be random, but in fact have a very natural ebb and flow to them. One of the most common happenstances in Hildegard’s writing is the presence of an ascending fifth followed by either another fifth or fourth on top of the previous fifth. This pattern of fifths and the possible fourth appears multiple times throughout the score of Ordo Virtutum. One of the ways in which Hildegard used her extensive musical knowledge to convey her message is in how she scored each of the character’s main vocal lines. For instance, the Patriarchs and Prophets have a line to the Virtues which states, “We are the roots and you the branches, the fruit of the living bud [or eye].” Hildegard creates a music that follows this type of imagery by having the Patriarchs and Prophets sing below the finalis of the Dorian mode and likewise the Virtues sing above the final of the same mode. This gives the listener or audience member even more of a feeling of the Virtues holiness from above as well as the Patriarchs and Prophets grounding in the faith. A different perspective of the Ordo Virtutum comes from Pamela Sheingorn, who, in her article discusses the role of women both in Ordo Virtutum and in the early Middle Ages in which it was written. Like Davidson, Sheingorn also believes that there is still much research and studying to be done for both Hildegard and her Ordo Virtutum. The article gives a few possible reasons for the overall lack of attention on this particular drama, including its lack of performance history, the fact that it is the earliest moralities play, Hildegard’s position in the early Middle Ages rather than Late, and the growing misogyny of her time. The fact that Hildegard lived and composed during the Early Middle Ages was a problem because there are not as much information about this period of time as there is about the later Middle Ages. This fact obviously has nothing to do with the quality of Hildegard’s work, though it does play a large role in why it has not been easy for it to be studied. The main focus of Sheingorn’s article is the role of women in Ordo Virtutum and what it meant in Hildegard’s time. One thing that may be a bit overanalyzed by some is the fact that almost all of the roles in this drama are played by females. This can simply be explained by the fact that Hildegard wrote this liturgical drama to be performed by her own nuns at her convent. This helps us to understand that she may not have had as much of an ulterior motive as some would like to think. Though the fact that women do play the majority of the roles in Ordo Virtutum may not be significant, the emphasis Hildegard places on the virginity of women is rather prominent. Hildegard’s intentional accent on the importance of virginity through the Virtue Castitas shows her belief that women were the true embodiment of what it meant and how to live a completely pure life. This would have been different from mainstream thought during this period of time because men were considered the ultimate in the faith. Finally, in his article comparing and contrasting Ordo Virtutum with latter period English morality plays, Robert Potter explains how rare and unusual Ordo Virtutum is for a liturgical drama of the Middle Ages. Potter’s reasoning behind this thought is because it was common for liturgical dramas to depict actual Biblical scenes, thereby teaching those of the church who could not read. Ordo Virtutum does not depict a Biblical scene, but rather, shows an overly simplified version of the decisions every soul must deliberate against during its time on Earth. One commonality between Ordo Virtutum and the English morality plays is their overall focus on repentance as a main theme. While it would have been easy for Hildegard to present the Soul resisting the Devil outright and doing the “right” thing, she gave the drama a more realistic spin and depicted the Soul falling prey to the Devil’s seductions. Potter points out that while Hildegard did choose to “give the Devil his due” (Potter, 1994), she made the choice to not show or explain any of the sins that were committed while the Soul was in the Devil’s grasp. As well as explaining the similarities and differences between Ordo Virtutum and the English moralities, Potter does dive into Ordo Virtutm in terms of musicality and what it means in context. One of the first musically interesting points Potter discusses is Hildegard’s decision to not have the Devil sing even a single line in the drama. This, Potter points out, would be against the idea of Hildegard and that of the time period which was that music was such a symbol and held power of purity and holiness that it would almost be blasphemous to have the Devil even utter one melody in the drama. Potter brings up the juxtaposition between this idea of the Devil being too evil for music and the 1983 song, “The Devil has all the Best Tunes”, by Prefab Sprout. This adage presents the differences in culture between modern times and the Middle Ages about how we as cultures view the Devil. In Hildegard’s age, the Devil was viewed as against everything good while in modern times, the Devil has grown to have attributes that almost make him seem cool in today’s societal standards which also has a connection as to why he is able to seduce souls so easily. The next musical point Potter discusses is the chorus that sits in the middle of the drama that is sung almost entirely by and about Castitas, the Virtue of virginity. In this instance, Potter concurs with Sheingorn’s theory that Ordo Virutum is mostly a celebration of virginity and monastic life more than a drama depicting how to make a stand against the Devil’s wiles. Not only is this the longest chorus to occur in the drama, it also is “the richest and most florid piece in this section” (Davidson, 1992). The scene that takes place during this chorus is rather bland, but the flourishes and musicality that Hildegard implements during this scene makes up for the mild stage setting.