''Hail! Bright Cecilia'' ( Z.328), also known as ''Ode to St. Cecilia'', was composed by Henry Purcell to a text by the Irishman Nicholas Brady in 1692 in honour of the feast day of Saint Cecilia, patron saint of musicians. Annual celebrations of this saint's feast day (22 November) began in 1683, organised by the Musical Society of London, a group of musicians and music lovers. '' Welcome to all the pleasures'' (Z.339) was written by Purcell in 1683 and he went on to write other Cecilian pieces of which ''Hail! Bright Cecilia'' remains the best known. The first performance on 22 September 1692 at Stationers' Hall was a great success, and received an

encore An encore is an additional performance given by performers after the planned show has ended, usually in response to extended applause from the audience.Lalange Cochrane, in ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Alison Latham, ed., Oxford University Pre ...

. It has been suggested that Purcell himself was the countertenor soloist, but this appears to be a misunderstanding of a contemporary account.

Composition

Brady's poem was derived from

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

's "A Song for St Cecilia's Day" of 1687. With a text full of references to musical instruments (it is suggested that Cecilia invented the organ), the work requires a wide variety of vocal soloists and

obbligato In Western classical music, ''obbligato'' (, also spelled ''obligato'') usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance. Its opposite is the marking ''ad libitum''. It can also be used, more specifically, to indic ...

instruments.''Hail! bright Cecilia'' and ''Who can from joy refrain?'' – Introduction
by Robert King,

Hyperion Records Hyperion Records is an independent British classical record label. History Hyperion is an independent British classical label that was established in 1980 with the goal of showcasing recordings of music in all genres and from all time period ...

, 2010 Brady extols the birth and personality of musical instruments and voices, and Purcell treats these personalities as if they were dramatic characters. The airs employ a variety of dance forms. "Hark, each tree" is a sarabande on a ground. It is a duet on a ground-bass between, vocally, soprano and bass, and instrumentally, between recorders and

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

s ("box and fir" are the woods used in the making of these instruments). "With that sublime celestial lay" and "Wond'rous machine" are in praise of the organ.http://www.musicalconcepts.net/legacy/deller/2-4-texts.html "Thou tun'st this world" is set as a

minuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form that accomp ...

. "In vain the am'rous flute" is set to a

passacaglia The passacaglia (; ) is a musical form that originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is still used today by composers. It is usually of a serious character and is often based on a bass- ostinato and written in triple metre. Origin The t ...

bass. In spite of Brady's conceit of the speaking forest (it should be remembered that English organs of the period typically had wooden pipes), Purcell scored the warlike music for two brass

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

s and copper

kettle drums Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditiona ...

instead of fife and (field) drum. The orchestra also includes two recorders (called flutes) with a bass flute, two

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

s (called hautboys), strings and basso continuo. Purcell is one of several composers who have written music in honour of Cecilia.

Movements

The work consists of 13

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

. # Symphony ( overture): ''Introduction—Canzona—Adagio—Allegro—Grave—Allegro (repeat)'' #

Recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat ...

(bass) and chorus: "Hail! Bright Cecilia" # Duet ( treble hough_range_would_suggest_

hough_range_would_suggest_alto">alto.html"_;"title="hough_range_would_suggest_alto">hough_range_would_suggest_altoand__bass):_"Hark!_hark!_each_tree" #_Air_(music).html" "title="alto.html" ;"title="alto.html" ;"title="hough range would suggest alto">hough range would suggest alto">alto.html" ;"title="hough range would suggest alto">hough range would suggest altoand bass): "Hark! hark! each tree" # Air (music)">Air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

(countertenor): "'Tis nature's voice" # Chorus: "Soul of the world" # Air ( soprano) and chorus: "Thou tun'st this world" # Trio (alto,

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

and bass): "With that sublime celestial lay" # Air (bass): "Wondrous machine!" # Air (countertenor): "The airy violin" # Duet (countertenor and tenor): "In vain the am'rous flute" # Air (countertenor): "The fife and all the harmony of war" # Duet (two basses): "Let these among themselves contest" # Chorus: "Hail! Bright Cecilia, hail to thee"

Text

Publication

The work was edited for publication by

Edward Francis Rimbault Edward Francis Rimbault (13 June 1816 – 26 September 1876) was an English organist, musicologist, book collector and author. Life Rimbault was born in Soho, London, to a family of French Huguenot extraction that had emigrated to England in 1685 ...

References

External links

* , including Rimbault's introduction
A Song for St. Cecilia's Day
1687 by