O virtus Sapientiae · Sacred Music

O virtus Sapientiae is Hildegard's praise of Wisdom, whom she saw circling the whole of creation.

O power of Wisdom, you who, circling, encircled and embraced all things in one path that holds life.

Wisdom has three wings here: one flies on high, one rises from the earth, and the third flies everywhere. Nothing is outside her circling, and the song itself turns like a slow wheel.

In the concert its last note never quite ends. The drone carries on into the next song, so that Wisdom's circling flows straight into Mary's praise.

The Words

O virtus Sapientie,

O power of Wisdom,

que circuiens circuisti

you who, circling, encircled

comprehendendo omnia

and embraced all things

in una via que habet vitam,

in one path that holds life,

tres alas habens,

with three wings:

quarum una in altum volat,

one flies on high,

et altera de terra sudat,

the second distils from the earth,

et tercia undique volat.

and the third flies everywhere.

Laus tibi sit, sicut te decet, O Sapientia.

Praise be to you, as is your due, O Wisdom.