Hail! Bright Cecilia
| Hail! Bright Cecilia | |
|---|---|
| Sacred choral composition by Henry Purcell | |
Portrait of Purcell by John Closterman, 1695 | |
| Catalogue | Z.328 |
| Text | by Nicholas Brady |
| Composed | 1692 |
| Scoring | SSATB choir |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 22 September 1692 |
| Location | Stationers' Hall, London |
Hail! Bright Cecilia (Z.328), also known as Ode to St. Cecilia, was composed by Henry Purcell to a text by the Irishman Nicholas Brady in 1692 in honour of the feast day of Saint Cecilia, patron saint of musicians.
Annual celebrations of this saint's feast day (22 November) began in 1683, organised by the Musical Society of London, a group of musicians and music lovers. Welcome to all the pleasures (Z.339) was written by Purcell in 1683 and he went on to write other Cecilian pieces of which Hail! Bright Cecilia remains the best known. The first performance on 22 September 1692 at Stationers' Hall was a great success, and received an encore.