Ode on St. Cecilia's Day 1692

An annual London celebration of the patron saint of music, in the form of a banquet plus the performance of an ode, was instituted on St. Cecilia’s Day, 22 November 1683. The occasion proved so popular that it continued for some 30 years after. A newspaper account of the first performance of the 1692 Ode informs us that 'the Ode was admirably set to music by Mr. Henry Purcell, and perform’d twice with universal applause'. The popularity of Purcell’s setting is apparent from the many sources that survived from the period and from printed extracts which appeared almost immediately after its first performance. The editor, Christopher Hogwood, is the founder-director of the Academy of Ancient Music with whom he has made over 200 recordings. He is Honorary Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge and Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London.