Sense of style
Heavenly symphonies
Hildegard’s main body of work, the Symphonie armonie celestium revelationum (The Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations, from the 1140s and ’50s), comprises 77 religious poems, each set to a single line of chant. Stylistic pointers
Upward leaps, especially rising fifths followed by downward scalic passages, are a hallmark. The music was written in early German neumes (notation in use prior to the five-line staff method).
Sacred drama
Ordo Virtutum (The Play of the
Virtues, c1150) is among the earliest surviving morality plays, consisting of 82 melodies set syllabically, and identified as one of Hildegard’s first-known works. Subject matter
Hildegard’s music reflects the liturgical calendar as well as celebrating martyrs, virgins, angels and saints. Greenness, gardens, growth, jewels and precious metals are frequent images, as in Columba aspexit, O virga ac diadema and
O splendissima gemma.