The Odes for St. Cecilia's Day in London (1683-1703). (Volumes I-Iv).

Abstract

A significant body of music resulted from a festival in London during the late seventeenth century. The festival honored St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music, and the celebration was sponsored by an organization called the Musical Society. The festival was held annually, with few interruptions, for a period of twenty years. Unlike previous celebrations held in honor of St. Cecilia, the London festivities under the auspices of the Musical Society originated in secular, not sacred, circumstances. The secular derivation imparted a unique character to the London celebrations. Only three compositions out of a total of nine are widely available in modern publications. One of the three exists as a version for voices with a piano reduction. Of the remaining six, one ode is accessible in an unpublished Master's thesis; the rest are extant in manuscript sources. The most significant investigation of the celebrations, executed by William Henry Husk, while important, is over a century old and leaves some questions unanswered. Husk's work examines the history of the celebrations and does not scrutinize the compositions. The dissertation first addresses the historical background of the festivals and discusses the celebrations themselves. Some questions left open by Husk are answered, but many are not. The project next discusses all the surviving central odes written for the Musical Society's festival in chronological order. Inter- and intra-relationships are analyzed, as well as trends indicative of musical evolution during the period. The most important aspect of the dissertation is the inclusion of critical editions of the central odes which heretofore existed in manuscript scores only. Also, the work published as a reduction for piano and voices is included. The result of the dissertation makes all surviving central compositions available to the scholar and performer, assists in their interpretation, and gives an historical perspective surrounding their composition.