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The connection between text and melody is vital to rewarding for any singer to have an opportunity to ex-
Hildegard’s music. To express the complex and sensu- plore range, vowel color, legato singing, technical chal-
ous poetry, it might be helpful to think of one’s own lenges involving leaps and melismata, special ornamen-
language and consider what about it we find beautiful, tal techniques, and to experience the innate expressivity
persuasive, sensual, agitated, heartbreaking. Details of of singing modal music.
language that convey emotions or tone and feeling can As with much early music, there are elements of per-
be communicated through syllabic duration and stress, formance practice that are integral to the musical execu-
the length or shortness of articulation, pitch inflection, tion that may be new to those who do not specialize in
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dynamic level, vocal rhythm, and vocal quality. Char- medieval music. Even for specialists in repertoire from
acter of expression is imparted through the degree of the medieval era, the process of inspiring this music still
harshness or gentleness in the vocal quality; the degree involves a degree of creative and informed guesswork.
to which our sounds are intimate or exclamatory; how To follow Hildegard’s own words and example, “Do not,
words or syllables are clipped and distinct or run to- in your weariness, keep silent, but let your voice ring
gether smoothly; the high and low inflection that can forth like a trumpet…” Go forth with this repertoire
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impart the function of a phrase. If the singer under- as Hildegard lived her life: humbly, boldly, and eternally
stands the text they are trying to communicate, they seeking illumination.
can imagine the details of the language that might help
them convey the meaning. Author’s Note: This article was derived from the au-
thor’s dissertation, “A Conductor’s Guide to the Music
of Hildegard von Bingen” (Indiana University Jacobs
Conclusion School of Music, 2021).
Even with the best transcriptions, engaging with this
notation through the mediator of the modern editor NOTES
can feel as if we are experiencing the music “through
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a glass, darkly.” There is information in the neumes 1 Fiona Maddocks, Hildegard of Bingen: The Woman of Her Age
that can aid the singer in developing an interpretation (Doubleday, 2001), 22. Maddocks notes other sources in-
that simply does not translate in any modern transcrip- dicate Hildegard taking the veil possibly earlier in 1106.
tion. The twelfth-century neumes are not a primitive 2 Margot Fassler, “Composer and Dramatist: ‘Melodious
precursor to our contemporary notation; rather, they Singing and the Freshness of Remorse,” in Voice of the
are a system designed to provide the singer with the Living Light, ed. Newman (University of California Press,
information they needed to remember—a word which, 1998), 150.
to the medieval musician, involved “imaginative re- 3 William P. Mahrt, “Sacred Music: Chant,” in A Performer’s
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construction.” The neumes are the singer’s closest Guide to Medieval Music (Indiana University Press, 2000),
connection to the sound world of Hildegard and her 2.
nuns, and are the gateway into a living creative musical 4 Marianne Pfau, “Music and Text in Hildegard’s Antiphons,”
process. in Hildegard, Symphonia: A Critical Edition of the Symphonia
While it may at first seem daunting to approach this Armonie Celestium Revelationum [Symphony of the Harmo-
repertoire, time spent with this music will reap great ny of Celestial Revelations], ed. and trans. Barbara New-
rewards. Foremost, these chants constitute high-quality, man (Cornell University Press, 1988), 75.
substantive literature. This music is of great emotion- 5 Marianne Pfau, “Hildegard Von Bingen’s Symphonia ar-
al, spiritual, and intellectual depth. There is a viscer- monie celestium revelationum: An Analysis of Musical
al joy in singing soaring consecutive leaps and endless Process, Modality, and Text-Music Relations” (PhD diss.
melismas, and profound returns for those who spend State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1990),
time interpreting the layers of connection between the 38–41. Pfau references philosophical theories on music
deeply expressive texts and architected melodies. It is by Cassiodorus and St. Augustine.

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