Description
O Viridissima Virga, performed by the award winning Early Music ensemble Voices of Music, Molly Netter, soprano. Live, 8K video from our Secret Garden concert, April, 2026.
The Secret Garden—a beloved children's book from a century ago—was also a powerful image for medieval and Renaissance poets and musicians. In a world in which nature was often unpredictable and harsh, what great joy it must have been to imagine a protected space where nature, beauty, and horticulture could enrich one's life and invite one to dance, sing, and love.
In the medieval imagination, the world began with the Garden of Eden—always verdant, always springlike, but lost to us. In _O viridissima virga_ (O green branch), Hildegard von Bingen imagines lost Eden recreated in the fruitfulness of Mary, the "second Eve"—both a budding branch (virga) and a virgin (virgo), whose womb bears Jesus. (Nicholas Jones)
Text
O viridissima virga,
ave, que in ventoso flabro sciscitationis
sanctorum prodisti.
Cum venit tempus
quod tu floruisti in ramis tuis,
ave, ave fuit tibi,
quia calor solis in te sudavit
sicut odor balsami.
Nam in te floruit
pulcher flos qui odorem dedit
omnibus aromatibus que arida erant.
Et illa apparuerunt omnia in viriditate plena.
Unde celi dederunt rorem super gramen
et omnis terra leta facta est,
quoniam viscera ipsius frumentum
protulerunt et quoniam volucres celi nidos
in ipsa habuerunt.
Deinde facta est esca hominibus
et gaudium magnum epulantium.
Unde, o suavis Virgo,
in te non deficit ullum gaudium.
Hec omnia Eva contempsit.
Nunc autem laus sit Altissimo.
O greenest branch,
hail, you who came forth
within the windy gusts of the saints’ jouney
When the time came
that you blossomed in your branches,
hail, hail to you,
for the heat of the sun poured over you
like the fragrance of balm.
For in you bloomed
a beautiful flower that gave fragrance
to all the spices that were dry.
And all these appeared
in full greenness.
Then rained the heavens dew upon the grass
and all the earth was made joyful,
for its womb brought forth grain,
and the birds of heaven set their nests in it.
Then food was made for men and women,
and great was the joy of those who ate
Therefore, O sweet Virgin,
no joy is lacking in you.
All these things Eve chose to scorn.
And now, let praise ring forth unto the Highest.
Voices of Music
Hanneke van Proosdij & David Tayler, directors
Molly Netter, soprano
Cheryl Ann Fulton, medieval harp
Shira Kammen, vielle
Hanneke van Proosdij, recorder
David Tayler, Laouta
Music: Boby Borisov, audio engineer and ambisonics design
Video: Lloyd Hryciw & Doris Du
8K technology: David Tayler
Produced by Hanneke van Proosdij & David Tayler
Post Production: David Tayler & Andrew Levy
Audio mastering, video cutting and final 8K color and render: David Tayler
#hildegardvonbingen