Dendermonde, Sint-Pieters-en Paulusabdij, ms. 9

Cantus Siglum

B-DEa ms. 9

Holding Institution

Dendermonde, Sint-Pieters-en Paulusabdij (B-DEa)

Manuscript/Printed

Manuscript

Summary

Twelfth-century parchment manuscript sent from Hildegard of Bingen’s Rupertsberg monastery to the Cistercian abbey of Villers in Brabant, Belgium in 1176. Early German staff notation in a Hufnagel style on 4-line staves, with red F-line and yellow C-line. 173 folios. 18 folios (f. 153–170v) with music notation. Last 3 fascicles (ff. 153–173) no longer attached. One folio missing between ff. 155 and 156 and another between ff. 164 and 165. 19.7 x 28.8 cms with a principal writing space of 15 x 24 cms.

Liturgical Occasions

153r, Trinity; 153r, Mary; 157r, Trinity; 159r, Angels; 159v, Patriarchs; 160v, Apostles; 161v, John the Evangelist; 162r, Disibod, Bishop and Patron of Disibodenberg; 163r, Martyrs; 163v, Confessors; 164v, Rupert of Bingen; 165r, Virgins; 166r, Widows; 166v, Holy Innocents; 167r, 11,000 Virgin Martyrs of Cologne; 170r, Dedication of a Church

Description

The Dendermonde codex contains works by Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) and Elisabeth of Schönau (1129-1165), as well as one anonymous work: Liber Vitae Meritorum S. Hildegardis (ff. 1–121v); Liber Viarum Dei S. Elisabeth de Schoenau (ff. 121–152v); Symphonia Harmoniae Caelestium Revelationum (ff. 153–170v); and an untitled dialogue between a priest and the devil (ff. 170–173v). Only the portion of the codex with music, known as Symphonia Harmoniae Caelestium Revelationum (Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations), is inventoried in the Cantus Database.

Hildegard composed musical works for use in the Mass and Office c. 1141–1158, including antiphons, responses, sequences, hymns, a Kyrie, and an alleluia, which survive mainly in two extant sources, the Dendermonde and Wiesbaden codices.

The Dendermonde codex was completed before Nov. 1, 1176 in the scriptorium of the Rupertsberg cloister and sent to the Cistercian abbey of Villers in Brabant, Belgium as indicated by the owner’s mark on f. 173v, “Liber s[an]c[t]e Ma[rie de] Villari” (The Benedictine Abbey of Villers). The codex was transferred to the abbey of Affligem in the seventeenth century, at which point “Monasterii Haffligemensis” was marked on f. 1. In 1796, the monks were expelled from Affligem due to the French Revolution, and in 1837, the abbey moved to Dendermonde. Since then, the manuscript has been held by the St. Pieters & Paulusabdij abbey. The codex was rebound in the eighteenth century with white paper flyleaves and “M.S. OPERA HILDEGARDI [sic] VIRGINS” was stamped on its spine. There are also pencil folio numbers in the upper right hand corners in a modern hand.

The differentiae in this manuscript are labelled according to their modal type: protus (1 or 2); deuterus (3 or 4); tritus (5 or 6); and tetrardus (7 or 8). Within each modal type, unique differentiae are identified by an uppercase letter indicating the final pitch of the differentia and an arbitrarily-assigned number, e.g. A1, D2, etc. The Volpiano transcription of each differentia is included in the Extra field.

Selected Bibliography

• Hildegard of Bingen. Symphonia Harmoniae Caelestium Revelationum (Dendermonde St.-Peters & Paulusabdij Ms Cod. 9). Introduction by Peter van Poucke. Peer Belgium: Alamire, 1991.


• Embach, Michael and Martina Wallner. Conspectus der Handschriften Hildegards von Bingen. Münster: Aschendorff Verlag, 2013, 81-82.


• Mannaerts, Pieter. "Dendermonde, Benedictijnenabdij, Ms. 9." In A Catalogue of Notated Office Manuscripts Preserved in Flanders (c. 1100-c. 1800). Volume 1: Averbode, Dendermonde, Diest, Geel, Ghent, Tongeren. Edited by Sarah Ann Long and Inga Behrendt. Turnhout: Brepols, 2015, 59-60.

Notes on the Inventory

The inventory for B-DEa 9 was completed by Jennifer Bain and Nan Zhang (Dalhousie University). Full texts were entered by Nan Zhang and edited by Alessandra Ignesti (McGill University), with the "MS Spelling" full texts added by Alessandra Ignesti. Clare Neil (Dalhousie University) entered the melodies in Volpiano, and Clare Neil and Barbara Swanson proofread them. The manuscript description was written by Rebecca Shaw and edited by Jennifer Bain. Additional editorial assistance from Debra Lacoste (Dalhousie University).

Other Editors

Jennifer Bain
Debra Lacoste
Rebecca Shaw

Full Texts Entered by

Nan Zhang
Alessandra Ignesti

Melodies Entered by

Clare Neil

Full/Partial Inventory

Partial Inventory

Complete Source/Fragment

Complete source