Chapter 13 introduces plainchant and early polyphony in the Middle Ages. It discusses chant
within the context of medieval monastic and cloistered communities, as embodied in the life and
music of Hildegard of Bingen.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand how religious communities such as monasteries and convents fostered the
development of worship music during the Middle Ages, using Hildegard of Bingen as a case
study
2. To recognize the musical characteristics of Gregorian chant
3. To understand Hildegard’s Alleluia, O virga mediatrix as a model of responsorial singing in
the plainchant tradition
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
1. Display on the board the quote from St. John Chrysostom that opens Chapter 13. Have the
class form pairs to discuss the saint’s views on music for five minutes, using the following
questions as prompts: Why is music, for God and thus for St. John, the solution to the
problem of “lazy men” and those “who gave themselves only with difficulty to spiritual
reading”? Secondly, what kind or style of music do you think would best resolve these
issues? Instrumental? Vocal? What about texture? Form? Rhythm? Have the pairs volunteer
their responses. Next, play the Gregorian chant: Kyrie excerpt from “Your Turn to Explore”
in the Part 2 prelude. Does the music solve John’s problem? How? Why?
2. After reviewing the performing contexts and functions of the three listening examples from
Chapter 13, play them one after another (liturgical plainchant: Hildegard of Bingen’s
Alleluia, O virga mediatrix; liturgical Gregorian chant: Gregorian Chant: Kyrie from the
Mass Ordinary; and call to prayer: Adhan: Call to Prayer and Blessings on the Prophet).
Ask the class how these chants differ or remain similar in terms of melody, text setting
(syllabic, neumatic, or melismatic), and form. Begin a discussion with your class about the
connections between these stylistic similarities/differences and their specific religious
context and function. How does Hildegard’s chant reflect the unique circumstances of her
position? Which example lends itself to communal expression? Which lends itself to more
intimate (cloistered), personal expression? Why?
3. Take students through the Listening Guide of Hildegard of Bingen’s Alleluia, O virga
mediatrix. Follow this by playing a liturgical chant from the Mass Ordinary (a Kyrie or
Agnus Dei would work well). Ask the class how these chants differ in melody, text setting,
and expression. How does Hildegard’s chant reflect the unique circumstances of her
position? Which example lends itself to communal expression, and which lends itself to
more intimate (cloistered) and personal expression? Why?
ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS
1. Like Hildegard, Saint Augustine was another medieval personality who negotiated the
individual expression of Christian spirituality within the larger community of faithful
Christian followers. A leading figure in Western Christianity during the very early Middle
Ages (fifth century), St. Augustine wrote in depth about the musical traditions of the early
medieval church. In his Confessions, Augustine spoke candidly about the role music played
in his journey toward spiritual maturity. After reading an excerpt from the Confessions
about Augustine’s relationship with music (see below), answer the following questions:
▶ How would you describe Augustine’s attitude toward music?
▶ What role did music play for Augustine in the worship experience?
▶ How would you compare Augustine’s relationship with music to Hildegard’s?
▶ Do we hear traces of Augustine in discussions of music and worship today?
You can find an excerpt from Augustine’s Confessions in Strunk and Treitler’s Source
Readings in Music History (W. W. Norton; see “Supplemental Bibliography”).
2. Chant as a form of sung worship is common in many of the world’s spiritual traditions.
Islam maintains its own chant tradition in the reciting of the Qur’an as well as in the adhan,
the call to prayer. After listening to Adhan: Call to Prayer, what similarities and differences
do you hear between the Islamic and Christian medieval chant traditions? Do you hear the
same kind of elements as in Gregorian chant (mode and melodic text setting)?
TEACHING CHALLENGES
Cloistered and monastic life will likely seem worlds away—both in time and in concept—from
contemporary reality for many students. Encourage students to explore the living tradition of
religious orders, including those that continue to sing plainchant in worship services. The
Benedictine monks of the Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos in Spain, who have made several
famous recordings of Gregorian chant, maintain a website (in Spanish) that documents the
history and continuing service of the abbey at www.abadiadesilos.es. Some students may relate
more to such orders as the Trappists (Cistercians). Several Trappist abbeys are responsible for
producing award-winning beers and cheeses celebrated worldwide. See, for example, the
Trappist Abbey of Notre Dame d’Orval in Belgium at http://www.orval.be/en/home/Abbey.
SUPPLEMENTAL REPERTORY
The Gregorian chant repertory is well documented in recordings. Some common recording
groups include the Clervaux Benedictine monks of the Abbey of St. Maurice and St. Maur,
Gloriae Dei Cantores Schola, and the ever-popular Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de
Silos. See also the following works by Hildegard of Bingen:
▶ Ordo virtutum
▶ vis aeternitatis
▶ Alma redemptoris mater
SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Crocker, Richard L. An Introduction to Gregorian Chant. New Haven: Yale University Press,
2000. An impressive and accessible introduction to Gregorian chant. Chapter 7
(“Monastic Chant in Time and Eternity”) elaborates on the phenomenon of Gregorian
chant as a personal yet communal expression of faith and spirituality within the monastic
experience. The book also includes a recorded set of chants sung by the author and with
detailed musical analyses.
Benedictine Monastery of Solesmes, ed. Liber Usualis. Reprinted 2nd ed. Tournai: Desclee &
Co., 1961. The most comprehensive collection of Gregorian chant as assembled and
renotated by the Benedictine monks of Solesmes in the nineteenth century. This public
domain reprint edition can be accessed at
http://imslp.org/wiki/Liber_Usualis_(Gregorian_Chant).
Newman, Barbara, ed. Voice of the Living Light: Hildegard of Bingen and Her World.
Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998. A collection of essays by
the world’s leading Hildegard of Bingen scholars. Newman provides a synopsis of
Hildegard’s life in Chapter 1 (“Sibyl of the Rhine”). Margot Fassler discusses Hildegard’s
musical achievements in Chapter 8 (“Composer and Dramatist”).
Strunk, William Oliver, and Leo Treitler. Source Readings in Music History. Rev. ed. New York:
W. W. Norton, 1998). The excerpt from Augustine’s Confessions mentioned in “Assignment
Suggestions” appears on pp. 132–33.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Voice and Worship: Tradition and Individuality in Medieval Chant (Chapter 13)
I. Life in the Medieval Monastery
A. Life devoted to Catholic Church
1. religious seclusion
2. available to men and women
3. preserved, transmitted ancient learnings
4. devoted to prayer, scholarship, preaching, charity, healing the sick
a. sung prayer: salvation of humanity through music
5. arduous discipline
II. Plainchant: Music of the Church
A. Pope Gregory the Great (r. 590–604)
1. codified church music; liturgy
a. liturgy: set order of church services
b. music at core of Christian prayer
2. more than 3,000 Gregorian melodies
a. composed anonymously
b. belief in divine composition
B. Plainchant, Gregorian chant
1. single-line melody: monophonic texture
2. follows inflections of Latin text; free-flowing, non-metric
3. avoids leaps; gentle contours
4. melodies: Greek, Hebrew and Syrian influences
5. text settings: syllabic, neumatic, melismatic
6. modal: modes precede major and minor scales
III. A Song for Worship by Hildegard
A. Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179)
1. renowned poet, prophet
2. daughter of a noble German couple
3. given to the church as a tithe
4. founded convent in Rupertsberg, Germany, 1150
5. famous throughout Europe; advice sought after
6. sainthood 2012, canonized by Pope Benedict XVI
7. serenely beautiful music, resembles Gregorian chant
a. expressive leaps, melismas: convey meaning of the words
B. Hildegard of Bingen, Alleluia, O virga mediatrix
1. praise to the Virgin Mary
2. text by Hildegard: not “Gregorian”
a. new praise song controversial
3. responsorial: group repetition of leader’s text-music phrase
a. roots in ancient Jewish practice
C. Listening Guide 2: Hildegard of Bingen, Alleluia, O virga mediatrix (Alleluia, O
mediating branch), (Late 12th century)
1. a cappella choir and soloist
2. three-part structure
a. “Alleluia”: solo intonation, choral response
b. verse: solo voice
i. expressive leap and melisma: “death”
ii. melismatic ending: “chastity”
c. “Alleluia”: chorus