On a poem by John Dryden
Premiere: London, November 22, 1739

***

Soloists: Soprano, Tenor
Chorus: S-A-T-B
Orchestra: 1 flute, 2 oboes, bassoon(s), 2 trumpets, timpani, strings, organ, continuo
(Instrumental solos for cello, flute, organ)

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Overture: Larghetto e staccato--Allegro--Menuet
Recitative & accompagnato (tenor)
Chorus
Aria (soprano)
Aria (tenor) and chorus
March
Aria (soprano)
Aria (tenor)
Aria (soprano)
Aria (soprano)
Accompagnato (soprano)
Finale (chorus and soprano)

Program Notes by Martin Pearlman

For nearly twenty years beginning in 1683, the musicians of London held special celebrations on November 22, the feast day of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music.  Following a church service, there would be a banquet and a performance of a new ode to St. Cecilia, which would praise the power of music.  Most notable among the many musicians and poets who participated were Henry Purcell, whose own St. Cecilia odes were models for Handel, as well as John Dryden, who contributed two poems to the celebrations, which were set to music by various composers. 

It was well into the next century when Handel was attracted to the two Dryden odes.  During the 1730s he was making a fitful transition from Italian opera to English-language works, and in 1736 he set his first Dryden ode, Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music.  Three years later, in 1739, his annual concert series was to open in a new theater on November 22, St. Cecilia's Day.  The obvious repertoire would be his own Cecilia ode, Alexander's Feast.  That work alone, however, was  too short to make a complete concert, so he set about composing music to Dryden's other Cecilia ode to supplement it.  The Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, as the second work is known, was the shorter of the two, and formed the final third of the concert. 

Handel composed his Ode for St. Cecilia's Day in a mere nine days, during September of 1739.  In the short period between the composition of the ode and its premiere, he wrote the twelve great concerti grossi of his opus 6, of which the fifth concerto borrows music from the overture to this ode.  The Ode for St. Cecilia's Day was enormously popular, and Handel revived it for performances nine times during his lifetime.  All of its arias were soon published, and it was known by many people on the continent.  

Handel was clearly inspired by the opportunities in Dryden's poem to depict musical effects.  Following the overture, the ode begins with a representation of chaos and the "jarring atoms" being called into order by the power of music.  Some of Handel's word painting is unabashedly obvious but very effective.  In the first chorus, he depicts the words "From harmony, from heavn'y harmony" with broad, full chords, and the words  "Through all the compass of the notes it ran" with scales up and down.  The poem and the music then go on to portray the power and character of the various instruments, ending in a massive final chorus, which describes the trumpet at the last judgment when "music shall untune the sky."  We have gone from the beginning to the end of time, and music has been the engine of the universe.  Jubal, Orpheus, St. Cecilia, music of the spheres, the last judgment -- they are all ingredients in the rich mix of classical and Christian imagery in Dryden's poem and Handel's music.

Orchestration Chart

© Boston Baroque 2020

Boston Baroque Performances

Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day

March 19 & 20, 2022
Calderwood Studio at GBH, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor

Soloists:
Elena Villalón, soprano
Rufus Müller, tenor

November 2, 1996
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor

Soloists:
Sharon Baker, soprano
Mara Bonde, soprano
Frank Kelley, tenor

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