Beyond St Cecilia: Purcell's large-scale ode alongside superb anthems by his contemporaries Humfrey & Blow from The English Concert & Harry Bicket at Wigmore Hall

The Stationers' Hall where Purcell's Hail, Bright Cecilia was premiered in 1692

Humfrey: O Lord my God, Blow: I was glad, Purcell: Three Parts upon a Ground, Hail bright Cecilia; Amy Carson, Alexander Chance, Anthony Gregory, Nicolas Brooymans, The English Concert, Harry Bicket; Wigmore Hall
Reviewed 16 December 2025 

Purcell's largest ode for St Cecilia alongside music by two of his contemporaries brings a striking element of compare and contrast in fantastically vivid performances. 

There is a grim element of 'last man standing' about English music in the late 17th century. Pelham Humfrey, John Blow (two years younger than Humfrey) and Henry Purcell (ten years younger than Blow) all learned their trade as trebles in the Chapel Royal, reconstituted by King Charles II after the Restoration. The Interregnum meant that there were few senior composers in their way and for a few years, life must have seemed exciting and full of promise. Humfrey was sent to France and Italy by the King. But his time was short-lived, he died aged only 27 in 1674. Three years later, Matthew Locke died, one of the few pre-Civil War composers to return at the Restoration. This left Blow and Purcell, but Purcell's precocious talent meant that Blow stood aside for his talented pupil and friend. Only, Purcell died at the age of 36. 

Playing 'what if' we can wonder what English music would have been like if Purcell had lived. But take that further and consider an England where Humfrey lived too, making English music the province of a trio of friends and colleagues.

The latest concert at Wigmore Hall from The English Concert and Harry Bicket on 16 December 2025 brought these thoughts to the fore as they performed Purcell's large-scale ode Hail, bright Cecilia alongside substantial anthems by Humfrey and Blow. The ensemble was joined by soprano Amy Carson, countertenor Alexander Chance, tenor Anthony Gregory and bass Nicolas Brooymans for Humfrey's O Lord my God, Purcell's Three Parts upon a Ground, Blow's I was glad and Purcell's Hail, bright Cecilia.

The English Concert was directed from the harpsichord by Harry Bicket with an ensemble led by Charlotte Spruit (single strings plus oboes/recorders, trumpets and timpani) with a continuo group including Sergio Bucheli (theorbo), Jonathan Byers (cello), Alexander Jones (bass) and Tom Foster (harpsichord/organ). The four soloists were joined by four ripieno singers, Ailsing Kenny, Nathan Mercieca, Edward Woodhouse and Christopher Webb to make a vocal ensemble of eight.

Pelham Humfrey's music was a huge influence on his contemporaries, but it remains relatively unexplored, though discs like that from Joseph McHardy and the Choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal on Delphian have started to open this repertoire up [see my review]. Our view of Humfrey, though, is also rather coloured by Pepys' remarkably catty remarks about the man after Humfrey returned from France [see the entry for 15 November 1667].

Humfrey's verse anthem, O Lord my God, is probably his finest surviving work. Published in 1674 it is a setting of Psalm 22.  The instrumental introduction was intense with chromaticism used to striking effect and the opening dramatic declamation for bass soloist Nicolas Brooymans brought out the tortured intensity of the words. A duet for Alexander Chance and Anthony Gregory was less upfront and more intimate, with the two voices interleaving over just continuo. The chorus began remarkably hymn-like but developed in intensity. With the second verse we returned to Brooymans' vivid declamation, following by more intimate passages for Chance and Gregory, but then Humfrey placed the voices in dialogue to striking effect: the strong bass solo contrasting with the more plangent alto and tenor duet. When the chorus returned, it was hushed, creating a striking end. There was something powerfully idiosyncratic about the piece, demonstrating Humfrey's willingness to use what he had learned of French and Italian music to bring out the tortured intensity of the words.

Purcell's Three Parts on a Ground dates from around 1678 (only four years after Humfrey's verse anthem). It is a work from Purcell's late teens, when he was coming to the end of his apprenticeship and keen to show off. Here we had three violins (Charlotte Spruit, Manami Mizumoto, Cristina Prats-Costa) in a constantly changing, vivid dialogue over continuo ground bass, the music exhibiting a remarkable sense of fantasy and the three playing with wonderful vigour.

The service marking the formal opening and consecration of St Paul's Cathedral (in Sir Christopher Wren's rebuilding) featured Purcell's D major Te Deum and Jubilate. John Blow wrote his setting of I was glad for the same service, matching Purcell's pieces in terms of forces needed and large-scale seriousness. But there was homage too, as the service came in 1697, two years after Purcell's death.

A vigorous instrumental introduction which combined grandeur with a nice bounce to the rhythms led to a sumptuous opening chorus. Blow structured the work by alternating choruses with solo verses, very much as Purcell had done with his sacred music. The choruses were often vigorous and vivid, and even when more restrained a sense of vigour developed. There was richness of texture too, the music elaborate and imaginative. The verse passages began with an intense trio for Chance, Gregory and bass Christopher Webb. Later on in the piece, Chance was joined by countertenor Nathan Mercieca for a duet featuring their two elaborately intertwining lines over continuo. A further trio for Chance, Gregory and Webb began lyrically but vigour returned and then Chance had a remarkably free solo featuring trumpets as well leading to the resounding conclusion.

By 1692, the Musical Society's annual odes to St Cecilia were well established. Purcell had written Welcome all pleasures for them in 1683, but in 1692 his Hail, Bright Cecilia was altogether larger in scale and conception. Purcell's orchestra consists of strings, continuo, oboes, recorders and trumpets. But his use of everyone is spare, for a start oboes double recorders, and elsewhere he is just as happy with continuo bringing in the rest of the instruments to make a point. It is worth bearing in mind that the trumpets without valves were rather limited in terms of notes and keys so that any work using them has to cycle back to certain keys.

However, the Symphony made it clear that Purcell's conception was large in scale, with an impressive sequence of movements that started to seem 'symphonic' in an anachronistic use of the word. The opening chorus was richly textured, with a real sense of voices and instruments intertwining. This was Purcell's writing as it should be, as opposed to a chorus simply accompanied by orchestra. The second chorus alternated terrific duets with more vigorous ensemble. 'Hark, each Tree' featured Gregory and Webb in duet, where pointed, expressive rhythms gave the music a sense of the dance. 'Tis natures voice' saw Chance in wonderfully rhapsodic form, taking his time over the elaborations. His alto voice has a fine edge to it which suits this music, often written hovering between alto and high tenor. Soprano Amy Carson finally got her moment with 'Thou tun'st this world below' featuring a pair of perky oboes against Carson's admirably clear elaborations. 'With that sublime celestial lay' featured Brooymans in dialogue with the duet of Chance and Gregory. Rhapsodic and expansive, the music displayed the vivid variety of Purcell's approach to word setting. Brooymans hymn to the organ - 'wondrous machine' was finely sonorous, contrasting with the remarkably perky instrumental contributions. Gregory attacked 'The Airy Violin' with vivid vigour, then was in plangent duet with Chance for 'the Am'rous Flute'. Both basses gave us rich, vibrant tone for their duet 'Let these among themselves', and the final sequence alternated vigorous tutti with less upfront moments.

The Stationers' Hall near St Paul's was the venue for the work's first performance. In size, it was not unlike Wigmore Hall so use of women apart (Purcell's ensemble would have included boys) we could imagine the first performance might have been something akin to what we heard. Except there was nothing academically learned about this performance. Singers and players wore their learning lightly, and what came over was Bickett's care to bring out maximum contrast in Purcell's writing and the performer's sheer enjoyment of the music. 

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