Ode zum St. Cecilia's Day 1683

The present ode was the first of many commissioned The Musical Society for the annual celebration of St. Cecilias Day (November 22nd). It was obviously a great success, for the ode was printed in score in 1684 and the Society had to move for the 1684 celebrations to a later hall, the Stationers Hall. The ode of 1683 shows Purcells ingenuity in every aspect and set a high standard for all the other composers who followed him, among them Blow and Handel. The present edition has the above mentioned print of 1684 as source. Title page, dedication and the first and last pages are here reprinted in facsimile. The few obvious misprints in the original have been corrected. Editiorial additions are in brackets. (Walter Bergmann)