Programme details

This year's tutti programme focuses on music dedicated to the patroness of music, Saint Cecilia: two Cecilian Odes by Purcell and two works by Handel. This is a lot of music, too much to perform in one concert. We'll make a selection of about an hour from these works according to the number and abilities of the singers, so that everybody can have a substantial solo. The resulting programme will be the culmination of the course, again this year in the church of Nieuw Sion.

Saint Cecilia

Saint Cecilia is known in the Christian tradition as the patroness saint of music. Saint Cecilia’s connection to music stems not from her historical deeds but from symbolic interpretations of her legend. According to the Passio Sanctae Caeciliae, a fictionalized 5th-century account, her life revolved around steadfast devotion and martyrdom. The narrative focuses on her faith, miraculous survival in a heated bath, and eventual beheading—hardly a musical tale.

So the question remains: what does Cecilia have to do with music? Here's the thing: in her passio it says the following about her wedding day: Cantantibus organis illa in corde suo soli Domino decantabat: while the instruments (of the wedding festivities) were playing, she sang in her heart only to the Lord. In the Middle Ages, the Latin as an antiphon text was slightly abbreviated and moreover mistranslated: While playing the organ, she sang to the Lord. And this is also how she was depicted: Cecilia with her organ. Later it could also be a violin, a cello or theorbo. These depictions played a key role in transforming her into the patroness of music.

English Resistance and Revival

For much of post-reformation England’s history, Cecilia’s veneration remained dormant, suppressed by Protestant reluctance to honor saints. However, in the late 17th century, a sudden surge of interest emerged, driven by a new cultural phenomenon: the Cecilian ode.

In 1683, composer Henry Purcell and poet Christopher Fishburn inaugurated a tradition of celebrating Cecilia with musical odes on her feast day. Their works praised her as a muse of music, blending secular and sacred elements. This movement coincided with the rise of public concerts and the institutionalization of music societies, such as the Musical Society of London.

The Cecilian ode became an annual tradition, attracting some of the greatest poets and composers of the time. John Dryden’s A Song for St Cecilia’s Day (1687) and Alexander’s Feast (1697) are among the most famous contributions, with grand musical settings by Purcell and later by George Frideric  Handel. These works elevated Cecilia’s feast day into a celebration of music’s divine power, transforming it into a distinctly English tradition.

Purcell contributed two Odes to St. Cecilia: Welcome to all the pleasures (Z.339) was written in 1683 to a text by Christopher Fishburn. The second, Hail! Bright Cecilia (Z.328), also known as The Ode to St. Cecilia, was compose in 1692 to a text by the Irishman Nicholas Brady.

Purcell - Welcome to all the pleasures

The first ode, Welcome to all the pleasures, is scored for vocal soloists, chorus and an ensemble of four-part strings and basso continuo. As well as accompanying the singers, the instruments feature in an overture (called symphony) and ritornelli. The piece takes about 18 minutes to perform.

Movements

1. Symphony
2. Verse (alto, tenor, bass), chorus & ritornello: "Welcome to all the Pleasures"
3. Song (alto) & ritornello: "Here the deities approve" (one of the best-known numbers)
4. Verse (two sopranos and tenor) & ritornello: "While joys celestial their bright souls invade"
5. Song (bass) & chorus: "Then lift up your voices"
6. Verse (bass) & chorus: "Then lift up your voices"
7. Instrumental interlude
8. Song (tenor) & ritornello: "Beauty, thou scene of love"
9. Song (tenor) & chorus: "In a consort of voices while instruments play"

Purcell - Hail! Bright Cecilia

The second ode, Hail! Bright Cecilia, is scored for vocal soloists, chorus and an ensemble of two alto recorders, bass recorder, two oboes, two trumpets, timpani, four-part strings and basso continuo. 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 soprano and bass voices, and instrumentally, between recorders and violins. These instruments are called for in the text ("box and fir" being the woods from which they are made). 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.

Movements

1. Symphony (overture): Introduction—Canzona—Adagio—Allegro—Grave—Allegro (repeat)
2. Recitative (bass) and chorus: "Hail! Bright Cecilia"
3. Duet (treble [though range would suggest alto] and bass): "Hark! hark! each tree"
4. Air (countertenor): "'Tis nature's voice"
5. Chorus: "Soul of the world"
6. Air (soprano) and chorus: "Thou tun'st this world"
7. Trio (alto, tenor and bass): "With that sublime celestial lay"
8. Air (bass): "Wondrous machine!"
9. Air (countertenor): "The airy violin"
10. Duet (countertenor and tenor): "In vain the am'rous flute"
11. Air (countertenor): "The fife and all the harmony of war"
12. Duet (two basses): "Let these among themselves contest"
13. Chorus: "Hail! Bright Cecilia, hail to thee"

Handel - Te Deum & Jubilate

Handel’s Te Deum & Jubilate were written to celebrate the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. It was his first major sacred work on English texts.  Handel followed the models of Henry Purcell's 1694 Te Deum & Jubilate with strings and trumpets, which was regularly performed on official occasions at St Paul's even after the composer's death, and a 1709 setting by William Croft. As in these models, Handel composed a combination of two liturgical texts, the Ambrosian hymn Te Deum, We praise thee, O God, and a setting of Psalm 100, O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands, which is a frequently sung hymn of praise in Anglican morning prayer. Handel's work was first performed at a public rehearsal on March 5, 1713, in St Paul's Cathedral. The official premiere took place after the difficult peace negotiations were completed, in a solemn thanksgiving service on July 7, 1713. 

The Te Deum & Jubilate are festively scored for six soloists (two sopranos, two altos, tenor and bass), mixed choir, two trumpets, flauto traverso, two oboes, bassoon, strings and basso continuo. The choir is in five parts (SSATB) for most of the movements, but occasionally alto and tenor are divided as the soprano; the final doxology begins in eight parts. Almost all movements are set for solo singers and chorus; there are no real arias.

Te Deum

1. We praise Thee, O God (Adagio, SATB)
2. To Thee all Angels cry aloud (Largo e staccato, 2 altos, TB unison)
3. To Thee Cherubin and Seraphim (Andante, 2 sopranos, SSATB)
4. The glorious Company of the Apostles (Andante – Adagio – Allegro – adagio – Allegro, tenor, bass, two sopranos, SSATB)
5. When thou took’st upon thee to deliver man (Adagio – allegro – adagio – Allegro, SSATB)
6. We believe that thou shalt come to be our judge (Largo, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, SATB)
7. Day by day we magnify thee (Allegro, double choir: SST AATB)
8. And we worship thy name (SSATB)
9. Vouchsafe, O Lord (Adagio, SSAATB)
10. Lord, in thee have I trusted (Allegro, SSATB)

Jubilate

1. Be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands (alto, SATB)
2. Serve the Lord with gladness (SSATB)
3. Be ye sure that the Lord he is God (duet: alto, bass, violin, oboe)
4. Go your way into his gates (SATB, strings)
5. For the Lord is gracious (Adagio: 2 altos, bass, oboes, violins)
6. Glory be to the Father (SSAATTBB)
7. As it was in the beginning (SSATB)

Handel was able to achieve a superior synthesis between soloists and choir. The large-scale structure never detracts from the delicacy of melody and harmony, while the musical portrayal of the text is always accurate and displays great refinement.

The success of Handel's Te Deum was such that the work was performed annually on the occasion of St. Cecilia's Day, on November 22, thus ousting Purcell's counterpart from the first place.