Abstract
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) still confronts us, after eight centuries, as an overpowering personality and in many ways a perplexing one. The volume of her work is vast and in its range it is unique. Contemporary scholarship has discovered in her life and work material for study by methods as diverse as those of the psychologist, the musicologist, the theologian, the iconologist and the historian of science.
The aim of this dissertation is to present a detailed investigation into the twelfth century music drama, Ordo Virtutum by Hildegard of Bingen. Written in the first half of the twelfth century, Ordo Virtutum is the earliest morality play yet discovered. It is not even mentioned in the standard works on medieval drama, such as those of Karl Young and E. K. Chambers and yet it should be numbered among the dramas which represent the summit of twelfth century dramatic achievement.
The contents of this dissertation fall into two parts. The first part contains a survey of the background of the Ordo, a discussion on· the characters, their characteristics and costumes, a suggested setting for the drama, and an interpretation of the content of the drama. Much of the information for the above, has been gleaned from the writings of Hildegard. Also included is a look at the possibility of dance, the problem of the inclusion or otherwise of musical instruments and a consideration of the place of the Ordo amongst the corpus of religious drama. This part is concluded with a detailed analytical look at the music of the drama.
The second part consists of a performing edition of Ordo Virtutum. This section has been designed to be self-sufficient, if required for a performance.
The appendix contains a musical reconstruction of the shortened form of the drama as it appears in Scivias.