Music for St Cecilia's Day

Name: Music for St Cecilia's Day
Start: 2025-11-22T19:30:00+00:00
Location: St David's Church, Exeter

Schedule

Sat, 22 Nov, 2025 at 07:30 pm

UTC+00:00

Location

St David's Church, Exeter | Exeter, EN

Date Saturday, November 22nd, 2025
Time 7:30 pm
Location St David's Church, Queen’s Terrace, Exeter, EX4 4HR.
C P E Bach - 'Magnificat'
Henry Purcell - 'Ode On St Cecilia's Day'
J S Bach - Cantata BWV192 'Nun Danket Alle Gott'
Soprano: Julia Featherstone
Mezzo Soprano: Alice Risdon
Tenor: Michael Graham
Bass: Julian Rippon
Orchestra Leader: Anna Cockroft
Musical Director: Matthew Jeffrey
Tickets £20 Adult in Advance, £22 on the door; Students and U18, £10; U16, £1
Our first concert with our new musical director Matthew Jeffrey will take place on 22nd November, which just so happens to be St. Cecilia’s Day. To mark this, we will be performing Purcell’s Ode for St. Cecelia’s Day, also known as Hail! Bright Cecilia. The text references various instruments throughout (the airy violin, the amorous flute etc.), and Purcell uses these to great effect, usually in conversation with the soloist. The colourful arias, duets, trios, and quartets are interspersed with boisterous, grand choruses..
Matthew adds: “It would feel wrong for my first concert with the Exeter Bach Choir to not include Bach in some form, so this is paired with CPE Bach’s Magnificat. This setting was the first major choral work that survives from CPE Bach, and was composed in 1749, the same year his father composed and assembled his Mass in B minor. Although this setting is less famous than that of his father, it is no less worthy of performance. The entire piece is brimming with energy, with electric choruses, and virtuosic arias and duets”
BREAKING NEWS! *****
We couldn't resist adding a bit of JSB to the programme so, we now include 'BWV192' Nun Danket Allen Gott', written in 1730 in Leipzig in Johann Sebastian Bach's heyday!