Page 23 - CJMay25

Twelfth-Century Rhineland Neumes : The manuscripts are preserved in such excellent
6
Dendermonde and Riesencodex condition that images of the original notation consti-
Hildegard’s Symphonia exists in two primary sourc- tute performable editions for those who read or are
es that include text and music known as the Dender- willing to learn how to interpret the notation and the
monde and Riesencodex. The Dendermonde Codex text. Diastematic or “heightened” neumes (those writ-
7
was a gift to the monks of Villers from around 1175 ten on a staff) indicate intervallic precision on a four-
and may have been copied under Hildegard’s super- line staff that includes movable C-clef with a yellow
8
vision. Riesencodex is a large volume of Hildegard’s line to mark the C line and a red line to mark the F
collected works, likely produced in the scriptorium of line. An example of the clarity of image and notation
the Rupertsberg cloister and presumably completed in in Riesencodex is provided in Figure 1. The Latin text
9
the decades following her death. Scholars have had ac- often includes abbreviations and contractions that can
cess to high-quality digital images of the manuscripts be a challenge to one unfamiliar with the paleography
10
since the 1990s. of twelfth-century script.

Figure 1. Hodie (Nunc) Aperuit, 476ra from Riesencodex. In Dendermonde and other sources, the first word is Hodie. Here in
Riesencodex, the piece begins with the word Nunc. The text is below the staff and does not include hyphens between syllables of the
same word. Note C-lines indicated with a letter and yellow line, F-lines with a red line, as well as the inclusion of a flat sign midway
in the second system and at the beginning and middle of the last system. The smaller red text is an abbreviation indicating this is an
antiphon to Mary. The text “-ribus” and rubric in the top right belong to the preceding piece.
Image used with permission, RheinMain University and State Library, ms. 2.

CHORAL JOURNAL May 2025 Volume 65 Number 8 21