We know very little about St. Cecilia’s life, other than the fact that it ended in martyrdom, probably in the early to mid-third century. Many stories associate her with singing — in acts of prayer as a young woman and in the face of her torturers.
In the middle ages, she was named the patron saint of music and of Church musicians. In works of art and literature that extol the mysterious, cosmic power of music — connecting earthly with celestial music — St. Cecilia is often referenced. John Dryden’s “An Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day, 1687,” for example, is about the creative power of music, not about St. Cecilia, although she makes a significant cameo appearance in the seventh stanza.
In 1739, George Frideric Handel employed Dryden’s poem in his Ode for St Cecilia’s Day. A new recording of this work by the Dunedin Consort has recently been released, which I hope to review in these pages soon.
For now — while the turkey is still roasting — take 3-1/2 minutes to listen to A Hymn for St. Cecilia, written in 1960 by the English composer Herbert Howells (a significant 20th-century contributor to Anglican music). It will give you more for which to be thankful.