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A Conductor’s Guide to the Music of Hildegard von Bingen

The oriscus is a component of a pressus construc- tation, either in the style of a light portamento, or gen-
tion, which appears in the notation of Hildegard’s tly articulating the diatonic pitches to fill in the interval.
manuscripts in the form of a vertical line attached to Another option is to lengthen the first note, perform a
a short undulating line. The Liber Usualis suggests that quick, light mordent (alternation between two adjacent
the pressus be performed as an intensification, requir- pitches, which could involve a microtonal pitch), and
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ing a strengthening of sound. Intensification could be either sing a light portamento or ascend by filling in
achieved with vibrato, pitch fluctuation, acceleration, the interval with the intervening diatonic pitches. The
dynamics, or a combination of these musical devices. three primary components to the ornament involve the
If the construction includes non-ligated (unattached) lengthening of the first note, something special that
notes, it is likely this neume might also have articulative likely has some musical aspect related to the jagged,
significance involving the repercussion of a note. 41 wavy shape of the neume, followed by a light ascent.

Quilisma
The quilisma is a symbol frequently found in Hilde- Vocal Technique
gard’s Symphonia and is often an important musical feature There are some concepts we may consider that can
in Hildegard’s expansive melodies. This neume has a facilitate a healthful, beautiful vocal production that
distinctive shape that looks like two small jagged-looking will serve this repertoire. The monophonic songs in
waves with a gracefully curved line ascending the dis- Symphonia require the ability to sing legato phrases that
tance of a second, third, or fourth. The jagged part of are often very long, as well as the ability to sing a melis-
the neume is the quilisma, which can appear as part of ma (sustaining a vowel through multiple notes). The
compound neume constructions and is often preceded potential for a spectrum of vocal colors in this music
by a punctum. In the manuscript sources, the symbol can be exceptionally beautiful and demanding, with
has a distinctive quality in that the quilisma itself usu- high and low sounds on vowels that range from dark to
ally occurs on a line or in a space and is connected to bright at both ends of a singer’s range. The text, and
a smooth upward ascending stroke. In contemporary the ability to communicate the expression and affect
transcriptions of Hildegard’s music, some editors repre- inherent in the poetry, is of fundamental importance to
sent the quilisma with a symbol that looks like a mordent singing this repertoire.
sign (jagged dark line) turned diagonally to show the There is some information in medieval musical trea-
ascending gesture, although some modern transcriptions tises that might inspire the singer’s imagination toward
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do not use a corresponding symbol. a healthy, expressive, organic vocal production. One
There are several different theories that are applied comment in Instituta Patrum de modo psallendi (ca. 1200),
to the performance of this neume, and among them an anonymous treatise associated with the abbey of St.
there seems to be agreement in that it involves some Gall on the singing of psalms and chants, indicates that
sort of trembling or trill and an ascending rise. The flexibility and the ability to perform the nuances of the
Liber Usualis describes the quilisma as a “tremolo” note neumes were lauded as valuable skills. A twelfth-cen-
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that appears like a “melodic blossom” that involves a tury comment from Bernard of Clairvaux indicates the
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trill and an ascending line. The note preceding the voice should be “sweet, but not light.” Another trea-
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quilisma is likely to be lengthened, with the quilisma tise that is often referenced in conjunction with singing
performed as a light, quicker note, possibly like a trillo medieval music is the phrase from the seventh-century
or gruppetto. 44 scholar and clergyman Isidore of Seville, who used the
Depending upon the tempo and character of the se- words “loud, sweet, and clear” to describe the “perfect”
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lection, one option for performance would be to length- voice.
en the first note, as if it were a dotted rhythm, and then Hildegard’s spiritual writings indicate that she valued
move quickly through the quilisma in a light ascending a voice that had a “sweet, clear, and ringing tone.” In
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gesture up to the third or fourth as indicated by the no- addition to agility, expression, and subtlety; clarity of

26 CHORAL JOURNAL May 2025 Volume 65 Number 8