Festivals held to commemorate St Cecilia's Day (22 November). The custom of celebrating the day by musical performances long existed in various countries, and many associations were formed for the purpose. The earliest recorded association was established in 1570 at Evreux, Normandy, under the title of ‘Le Puy de musique’; various liturgical performances were followed by a banquet after mass on the feast day and prizes were awarded for the best motets, partsongs, airs and sonnets.
Not until a century later was any similar association established in England. In 1683 a body known as the Musical Society initiated a series of annual celebrations in London; their practice was to hold a service (usually at St Bride's church), at which a choral service and anthem with orchestral accompaniment were performed by a large number of musicians, and a sermon, usually in defence of cathedral music, was preached. They then moved to another place (often Stationers' Hall), where an ode in praise of music, composed for the occasion, was performed. Such odes were written by Dryden (1687 and 1697), Pope (1708), Shadwell, Congreve, D'Urfey, Hughes and others, and composers included Purcell (1683 and 1692), Blow (1684, 1691, 1695 and 1700), Draghi, Eccles, Jeremiah Clarke and other lesser figures. The celebrations were held annually (except in 1686, 1688 and 1689) until 1703, after which they were held only occasionally. In 1736 Handel reset Dryden's Alexander's Feast, originally composed in 1697 by Jeremiah Clarke, and in 1739 Dryden's first ode, originally set in 1687 by Draghi. Odes were later composed at various periods by Boyce, Festing, Samuel Wesley and Parry.
About the same time that the London celebrations were established similar meetings were held (until at least 1708) at Oxford, for which odes were set by Blow, Daniel Purcell and others. Other towns followed the example, such as Winchester, Gloucester, Devizes and Salisbury. Edinburgh gave St Cecilia's concerts from 1696 and named its concert hall after Cecilia. In the early 18th century several festivals took place in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.
In Paris in the 19th century and early 20th it was the custom to have a solemn mass performed in the church of St Eustache on St Cecilia's Day, in which the Conservatoire orchestra took part; a new mass was usually produced, by such composers as Niedermeyer (1849), Gounod (1855) and Thomas (1857). After the appointment of Félix Raugel as maître de chapelle (1910) the mass was replaced by a sacred concert and a benediction. Musical celebrations on St Cecilia’s Day took place at various periods in Italy, Germany and elsewhere. In London, concerts in aid of the Musicians Benevolent Fund have continued to be held on St Cecilia's Day.
W.H. Husk: An Account of the Musical Celebrations on St Cecilia's Day in the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries (London, 1857)
W.H. HUSK/R