Hail! Bright Cecilia
Hail! Bright Cecilia, 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 began in 1683, organised by the Musical Society of London, a group of musicians and music lovers. Welcome to all the pleasures 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.
Text
Brady's poem was derived from John Dryden's "A Song for St Cecilia's Day" of 1687.Following Dryden, Brady extols the birth and personality of musical instruments, including the idea that Cecilia invented the organ.
Purcell responds to the text by giving emphasis to the colours and dramatic possibilities of the baroque orchestra. The reference to "Atoms bind" in the fifth movement might have been influenced by Robert Boyle's The Sceptical Chymist.
Music
Scoring
With a text full of references to musical instruments, the work is scored for a variety of vocal soloists and obbligato instruments, along with strings and basso continuo. For example, "Hark, each Tree" is a duet between, vocally, soprano and bass, and instrumentally, between recorders and violins. These instruments are called for in the text.However, Purcell did not always follow Brady's cues exactly. He scored the warlike music for two brass trumpets and copper kettle drums instead of the fife mentioned by Brady.
It has been suggested that Purcell himself was the countertenor soloist at the first performance. However, although he was a trained singer, the idea that he sang at this premiere appears to be a misunderstanding of a contemporary review.
Musical structures
The airs employ a variety of dance forms. "Hark, each tree" is a sarabande. "Thou tun'st this world" is set as a minuet.The compositional techniques used by Purcell include counterpoint and the ground bass.
Movements
The work consists of 13 movements.- Symphony : Introduction—Canzona—Adagio—Allegro—Grave—Allegro
- Recitative and chorus: "Hail! Bright Cecilia"
- Duet : "Hark! hark! each tree"
- Air : "'Tis nature's voice"
- Chorus: "Soul of the world"
- Air and chorus: "Thou tun'st this world"
- Trio : "With that sublime celestial lay"
- Air : "Wondrous machine!"
- Air : "The airy violin"
- Duet : "In vain the am'rous flute"
- Air : "The fife and all the harmony of war"
- Duet : "Let these among themselves contest"
- Chorus: "Hail! Bright Cecilia, hail to thee"