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A Conductor's Guide to the Music of Hildegard Von

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A Conductor's Guide to the Music of Hildegard Von A CONDUCTOR’S GUIDE TO THE MUSIC OF HILDEGARD VON BINGEN by Katie Gardiner Submitted to the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree, Doctor of Music, Indiana University July 2021 Accepted by the faculty of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Music Doctoral Committee ______________________________________ Carolann Buff, Research Director and Chair ______________________________________ Christopher Albanese ______________________________________ Giuliano Di Bacco ______________________________________ Dominick DiOrio June 17, 2021 ii Copyright © 2021 Katie Gardiner iii For Jeff iv Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge with gratitude the following scholars and organizations for their contributions to this document: Vera U.G. Scherr; Bart Demuyt, Ann Kelders, and the Alamire Foundation; the Librarian Staff at the Cook Music Library at Indiana University; Brian Carroll and the Indiana University Press; Rebecca Bain; Nathan Campbell, Beverly Lomer, and the International Society of Hildegard von Bingen Studies; Benjamin Bagby; Barbara Newman; Marianne Pfau; Jennifer Bain; Timothy McGee; Peter van Poucke; Christopher Page; Martin Mayer and the RheinMain Hochschule Library; and Luca Ricossa. I would additionally like to express my appreciation for my colleagues at the Jacobs School of Muisc, and my thanks to my beloved family for their fierce and unwavering support. I am deeply grateful to my professors at Indiana University, particularly the committee members who contributed their time and expertise to the creation of this document: Carolann Buff, Christopher Albanese, Giuliano Di Bacco, and Dominick DiOrio. A special debt of gratitude is owed to Carolann Buff for being a supportive mentor and a formidable editor, and whose passion for this music has been an inspiration throughout this process. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................... v List of Examples .......................................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................. vii List of Appendices ..................................................................................................................................... viii Introduction . ................................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: The Life and Works of Hildegard von Bingen ............................................................................ 3 Chapter 2: Scores ........................................................................................................................................ 20 Chapter 3: Selected Pieces .......................................................................................................................... 45 Chapter 4: Performance .............................................................................................................................. 79 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................. 150 vi List of Examples Example 1: Hildegard O splendidissima gemma, Dendermonde f. 154r .................................................... 27 Example 2: Hildegard and Luca Ricosa O rubor sanguinis ....................................................................... 28 Example 3: Hildegard O nobilissima viriditas in Lieder ............................................................................ 33 Example 4: Hildegard and Cheryl Lynn Helm O nobilissima viriditas ...................................................... 47 Example 5: Hildegard O rubor sanguinis, Riesencodex f. 471v ................................................................. 52 Example 6: Hildegard O viridissima virga, Riesencodex f. 474r ................................................................ 57 Example 7: Hildegard O viridissima virga, Riesencodex f. 474r ................................................................ 58 Example 8: Hildegard O viridissima virga, Riesencodex f. 474v ............................................................... 58 Example 9: Hildegard O viridissima virga, Riesencodex f. 474v ............................................................... 59 Example 10: Hildegard O nobilissima viriditas, Riesencodex f. 471v, Dendermonde f. 165r .................... 67 Example 11: Hildegard O nobilissima viriditas, Dendermonde f. 165r ................................................................................... 68 Example 12: Hildegard O nobilissima viriditas, Riesencodex f. 471r ........................................................ 69 Example 13: Hildegard O nobilissima viriditas, ed. Corrigan .................................................................... 69 Example 14: Hildegard O nobilissima viriditas, Dendermonde f. 165v ...................................................... 71 Example 15: Hildegard O nobilissima viriditas, Riesencodex f. 471v ........................................................ 71 Example 16: Hildegard O viridissima virga, Riesencodex, f. 474r with editorial markings ....................... 76 vii List of Figures Figure 1: Flexa and pes flexa in Symphonia ............................................................................................... 15 Figure 2: Clefs used in standardized chant notation ................................................................................... 30 Figure 3: Transcription table of basic hand-written neumes in Symphonia ................................................ 31 Figure 4: Symphonia neume transcription chart by Beverly Lomer ........................................................... 37 Figure 5: Porrectus and torculus resupinus in square-note neumes ............................................................ 48 Figure 6: Images of basic neumes from Riesencodex, f. 470 ..................................................................... 91 viii List of Appendices Appendix A: Liber Usualis, Selected pages from "Preface" .................................................................... 115 Appendix B: Texts, Translations, and Pronunciation ............................................................................... 133 Appendix C: Dendermonde Images .......................................................................................................... 139 Appendix D: Riesencodex Images ............................................................................................................ 142 ix 1 Introduction In the fall of 2019, I had the opportunity to prepare and conduct the responsory O nobilissima viriditas by Hildegard von Bingen as part of the program for my first doctoral recital at the Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana. I found a free score in modern notation online and began to learn the music. As I spent time with the piece, I had many questions about the performance of Hildegard’s music, particularly in regard to performance practice and how to interpret the notation. I consulted images of the manuscript online in the hope of finding answers and quickly found that a specialist’s knowledge was needed to interpret 12th-century Rhineland neumes. After further investigation, I found an edition in standardized square-notation neumes, but it was not a suitable alternative to hand an ensemble that was not fluent in reading chant notation and had limited rehearsal time. Even with the ensemble working from an edition that used contemporary clefs, a five-line staff, and pitches indicated by individual noteheads, there were musical elements that were left out of the modern edition. It became clear to me that the available scores for Hildegard’s music—in 12th-century Rhineland neumes, standardized chant notation, or modern clefs and noteheads—all present challenges for the performer. Apart from the issues the scores presented, we had to contend with the vocal challenges of the piece (range, phrasing, diction, rhythm, line), as well as the challenges the modern performer faces when studying medieval music: pronunciation, the role of rote learning and memorization, the type of notation the ensemble will work from, and what elements of performance practice might we consider. For the modern performer, the paradox of engaging with this repertoire lies in finding an edition that is reflective of the original notation and is also clear enough for the conductor and performers to have a successful and rewarding performance experience. The aim of this project is to provide a survey of the editions that are currently available for performing Hildegard’s music, and discuss the challenges associated with the manuscript sources and the 2 later editions which use square neumes and modern “dots and space” notation. I compare the various editions for three selections from Hildegard’s Symphonia and provide suggested editorial marks for each score. I will discuss considerations for the performance of medieval
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