22 November is St Cecilia’s day. She was a Roman noblewoman, believed to have lived in the third century and Christian martyr. Her feast day has been celebrated in the Christian church since the fourth century. During the middle ages she was honoured as the patron saint of painters. And in the 16th century she began to be venerated as the Patron Saint of Music. Her association with music is however something of an accident as a result of a mistranslation. Cecilia distributed her possessions to the poor, enraging the Roman prefect who ordered her to be burned. When the flames did not harm her, she was beheaded. Another legend says that after being struck three times on the neck with a sword, she lived for three days. St. Cecilia was buried in the Catacomb of Callixtus and later transferred to the Church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere in Rome. In 1599, her body was found still incorrupt, seeming to be asleep.
So… keep celebrating music with us! Our next concert is a candlelight concert on the eve of Advent – Saturday 30 November, at Aynho – beautiful music by Bach and his circle for the season before Christmas.