Act I : Complaint of the Souls Imprisoned in Bodies

What's playing on this page: This is the opening of Act I. It is the Complaint of the Souls Imprisoned in Bodies and states Hildegard's basic moral premise for the entire drama. All the Souls Imprisoned in Bodies are the voice of composer Lisa Bielawa who adapted Hildegard's plainchant into what she terms polyphonic "organum". Live, Lisa as the Soul does not sing but emerges slowly and quietly alone into the downstage light as the soundtrack reaches "O vivens sol". The other three Hildegurls move slowly in darkness onto the upstage left platform from where the Soul will invoke them later in Act I.
ORDO VIRTUTUM	THE ORDER OF THE VIRTUES
	ACT I
Querela Animarum in carne positarum:	Complaint of the Souls Imprisoned in Bodies:
O nos peregrine sumus. Quid fecimus, ad peccata deviantes? Filie regis esse debuimus, sed in umbram peccatorum cecidimus. O vivens sol, porta nos in humeris tuis in iustissimam hereditatem quam in Adam perdidimus! O rex regum, in tuo prelio pugnamus.	O we are pilgrims. What have we done, straying into sin? We ought to be daughters of the king, but into the shadow of sin we fell. O living sun, carry us on your shoulders into the most righteous inheritance which we lost through Adam. O king of kings, we are fighting in your battle.
Felix Anima:	The Soul, Rejoicingly:
O dulcis divinitas, et o suavis vita, [in qua perferam vestem preclaram, illud accipiens quod perdidi in prima apparitione, ad te suspiro, et omnes Virtutes invoco.]	O sweet divinity, and O delightful life [in which I shall wear the brightest of garments, Receiving that which I lost in my first appearance, To you I sigh, and invoke the Virtues.]