O vis eternitatis, Text Expression, and Performance in the Music of Hildegard von Bingen

The article analyzes the responsory O vis eternitatis, the symbolic opening of Hildegard von Bingen’s primary music collection, to show how Hildegard’s musical choices support the key words and concepts of the composition. It examines usual components of construction, such as mode, melisma, range, and repetition, and shows that the piece is suffused with repetition in a manner not previously detailed. The article also explores a feature usually overlooked in writings on Hildegard’s music: the employment of ornamental neumes to highlight text, identifying instances of unusual frequency or rare use of specific neumes. The article then compares three significantly different recordings of O vis eternitatis, concluding that modern difficulties in the performance of ornamental neumes mean that our renditions today can never fully realize Hildegard’s conceptions. Stripped of their ornaments, Hildegard’s compositions resemble statuary from antiquity that has lost its original paint over the centuries—no longer as the creator intended, but still beautiful and deeply pleasing.