St. Hildegard of Bingen square note score collection
  • Chant_Supremacist
    Posts: 146
    Does a published collection of all or most of her scores in square note form even exist? I haven't found anything.

    I know that some of her scores can be found piecemeal on Gregobase (e.g. https://gregobase.selapa.net/chant.php?id=19095), and I've found various scores and small collections in an idiosyncratic modern notation through the Hildegard Publishing Company: https://www.hildegard.com/product/songs-for-the-blessed-virgin-mary-hildegard-von-bingen/. (I find these scores a little difficult to interpret.)

    I'm looking for a relatively good if not complete collection in traditional notation, ideally with English translations. Or maybe just additional options to consider.
  • DCM
    Posts: 84
    @AngelaR is working on such a project right now. See this blog post, with her (ongoing) transcriptions at the bottom. Full post is worth reading, which details why the transcription process is fairly complicated (it doesn't fit neatly into the conventional modal system) .

    Thanked by 2Chant_Supremacist CHGiffen
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,145
    There is one, but it's more Hufnagel than nice Solesmian square notes.
    Screenshot 2025-06-16 at 1.05.29 PM.png
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    Thanked by 2Chant_Supremacist CHGiffen
  • Chant_Supremacist
    Posts: 146
    Just to round out the thread and for future reference, I did find a couple of further offerings worth mentioning.

    The St. Hildegard Benedictine Abbey in Germany sells what appears to be a complete edition of her compositions, in square notation, titled 'Lieder - Symphoniae'. I'm pretty sure this is different from what Jeffrey pointed to. You can find it scrolling down through the link (attachment also related).

    https://abtei-st-hildegard.de/hildegard-von-bingen-nonne-prophetin-kirchenlehrerin/

    I didn't go with this, despite it being reasonably close to what I was looking for, because while the sticker price is very good, the shipping costs were high, like 2x the book. It's available through other vendors but they all had similar shipping costs. Also the translations are all in German.

    I found a smaller collection called Sequences and Hymns with 9 pieces, prepared by Christopher Page, published by Antico Edition, and sold very affordably by RSCM. You can read more about it and see sample pages here: https://anticoedition.ndo.co.uk/html/mcm01.htm

    I wound up overcoming my preference for square notes and buying this one. It came very safely packaged and undamaged, contains English translations with some commentary, and I'm pleased with it overall. My eyes are still on a complete collection someday, even if its Latin-German.
    Lieder Symphoniae.png
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  • Verbum_GloriaeVerbum_Gloriae
    Posts: 12
    @Chant_Supremacist Some time ago, when I also had your quest I ended up finding that exact book which I bougth despite it offers German translations of the Latin texts (who cares about German translations if you get the chants!). I scanned it myself for my own convenience so I do not need to carry the book around and can access it from my devices anywhere. In my opinion, it is -at the moment- the best book out there of St. Hildegard's chants in square notation. So, if you or anybody wants a copy, just PM me and I will send you a download link.
    Thanked by 3tomjaw CHGiffen Chant_Supremacist
  • AgnusDei1989
    Posts: 28
    I've turned a few of the round-note editions from the Hildegard Society website into square notes; I can pass those on for anyone that wishes, though I don't know if they'll be the particular pieces you want! I have "O Successores" for confessors, the sequence "O virga ac diadema", "O cruor Sanguinis" for Passiontide, and ... a couple more, though I don't remember which off the top of my head.
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