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Hymns of Hildegard (2023)

for solo tenor, organ | 00:07:00

by Melissa Dunphy | text by Hildegard of Bingen

Commissioned by Mitchell Sturges.

Song cycle for tenor and organ. This cycle is designed to be added to; for more information about commissioning additional songs, please contact the composer.

i. O virtus Sapientie
Antiphon for Divine Wisdom by Hildegard of Bingen

O virtus Sapientie,
que circuiens circuisti,
comprehendendo omnia
in una via que habet vitam,
tres alas habens,
quarum una in altum volat
et altera de terra sudat
et tercia undique volat.
Laus tibi sit, sicut te decet,
O Sapientia!



O Wisdom's energy!
Whirling, you encircle,
encompassing all things
in one path possessed of life.
Three wings you have:
one of them soars on high,
the second exudes from the earth,
and the third flutters everywhere.
Praise be to you, as is your due,
O Wisdom!


ii. O eterne Deus
Antiphon for God the Father by Hildegard of Bingen

O eterne Deus,
nunc tibi placeat
ut in amore illo ardeas
ut membra illa simus
que fecisti in eidem amore,
cum Filium tuum genuisti
in prima aurora
ante omnem creaturam
et in spice necessitatem hanc
que super nos cadit,
et abstrahe eam a nobis
propter Filium tuum,
et perduc nos in leticiam salutis.




O eternal God,
now may it please you
to burn in that love
that we may be those limbs
that you made in the same love,
when you begot your Son
in the primal dawn
before all creation.
Look upon this need
that befalls us,
and take it from us
for the sake of your Son,
and lead us into the bliss of salvation.

Texts taken from Hildegard of Bingen's Sinfonia armonie celestium revelationum. Latin collated from the transcription of Beverly Lomer and the edition of Barbara Newman. Translation by Nathaniel M. Campbell.

Artwork by Romeyn de Hooghe, Historie der kerken en ketteren ... (1701).


Performances

  • 28 May, 2024: Mitchell Sturges, tenor, Sara Cahall, organ at Christ Church Cathedral, Cincinatti, OH
  • 16 Jul, 2023: Mitchell Sturges, tenor, Sara Cahall, organ at Ascension & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Wyoming, OH