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by John Dryden (1631 - 1700)
Translation possibly by Karl Wilhelm Ramler (1725 - 1798)

From harmony, from heav'nly harmony
Language: English 
Our translations:  FRE
From harmony, from heav'nly harmony
This universal frame began:
When Nature underneath a heap
Of jarring atoms lay,
And could not heave her head,
The tuneful voice was heard from high:
"Arise, ye more than dead."
Then cold, and hot, and moist, and dry,
In order to their stations leap,
And Music's pow'r obey.
From harmony, from heav'nly harmony
This universal frame began:
From harmony to harmony
Thro' all the compass of the notes it ran,
The diapason closing full in Man.

What passion cannot Music raise and quell!
When Jubal struck the corded shell,
His list'ning brethren stood around,
And, wond'ring, on their faces fell
To worship that celestial sound.
Less than a god they thought there could not dwell
Within the hollow of that shell
That spoke so sweetly and so well.
What passion cannot Music raise and quell!

The Trumpet's loud clangor
Excites us to arms,
With shrill notes of anger,
And mortal alarms.
The double double double beat
Of the thund'ring Drum
Cries: "Hark! the foes come;
Charge, charge, 't is too late to retreat."

The soft complaining Flute
In dying notes discovers
The woes of hopeless lovers,
Whose dirge is whisper'd by the warbling Lute.

Sharp Violins proclaim
Their jealous pangs, and desperation,
Fury, frantic indignation,
Depth of pains, and height of passion,
For the fair, disdainful dame.

But O! what art can teach,
What human voice can reach,
The sacred Organ's praise?
Notes inspiring holy love,
Notes that wing their heav'nly ways
To mend the choirs above.

Orpheus could lead the savage race;
And trees unrooted left their place,
Sequacious of the lyre;
But bright Cecilia rais'd the wonder high'r:
When to her Organ vocal breath was giv'n,
An angel heard, and straight appear'd,
Mistaking earth for heav'n.

GRAND CHORUS
As from the pow'r of sacred lays
The spheres began to move,
And sung the great Creator's praise
To all the blest above,
So, when the last and dreadful hour
This crumbling pageant shall devour,
The Trumpet shall be heard on high,
The dead shall live, the living die,
And Music shall untune the sky.

About the headline (FAQ)

Note: In Händel's setting, each stanza is a separate movement:

1.    Overture: Larghetto e staccato—allegro—minuet
2.    Recitative (tenor): "From harmony, from heavenly harmony"
3.    Chorus: "From harmony, from heavenly harmony"
4.    Aria (soprano): "What passion cannot music raise and quell!"
5.    Aria (tenor) and Chorus: "The trumpet's loud clangour"
6.    March
7.    Aria (soprano): "The soft complaining flute"
8.    Aria (tenor): "Sharp violins proclaim their jealous pangs"
9.    Aria (soprano): "But oh! What art can teach"
10.   Aria (soprano): "Orpheus could lead the savage race"
11.   Recitative (soprano): "But bright Cecilia raised the wonder higher"
12.   Grand Chorus with (soprano): "As from the power of sacred lays"


Text Authorship:

  • by John Dryden (1631 - 1700), written 1687 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Georg Friedrich Händel (1685 - 1759), "Ode for St. Cecilia's Day", HWV 76, first performed 1739 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Roxanna Panufnik (b. 1968), "Heav'nly Harmony", 2015, first performed 2015 [ mixed chorus and organ ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by David Evan Thomas (b. 1958), "A Song for Saint Cecilia's Day", 1991/2005 [ 3 sopranos, string quartet and harpsichord ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Ellen Florence Williams Whitlock (1889 - 1978), "From Harmony To Harmony", op. 5 (1958) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in English, adapted by Norman Dello Joio (1913 - 2008) [an adaptation] ; composed by Norman Dello Joio.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation possibly by Karl Wilhelm Ramler (1725 - 1798); composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
    • Go to the text.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Miguel Antonio Caro) , "Canto en honor de Santa Cecilia", appears in Traducciones poéticas, first published 1889


Research team for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor] , David Evan Thomas

This text was added to the website: 2006-06-12
Line count: 64
Word count: 351

Ode auf St. Caecilia
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English 
Durch Harmonie, durch Himmels Harmonie
entstand das ganze Weltgebäu.
Natur lag unter einer Last
uneiniger Atom,
ihr Haupt gesenkt hinab.
Die Silberstimm’ erklang von fern:
ersteh! Ersteh! Ersteh! du mehr als tot.
Und kalt, und warm, und feucht, und trocken nahm
jedes seinen eig’nen Platz,
gehorsam der Musik.
Durch Harmonie, durch Himmels Harmonie
entstand das ganze Weltgebäu.
Durch Harmonie, durch Himmels Harmonie entstand das ganze Weltgebäu.
Durch den Bezirk der Noten irrte sie, und die Oktave
schloß zuletzt der Mensch.

Leidenschaften stillt und weckt Musik.
Als Jubal einst die Saiten schlug, da stand und
lauschte der Brüder Schar,
und wundernd fiel sie
auf ’s Gesicht zu ehren diesen Himmelston.
O nur ein Gott, so dachten sie, wohnet drin in dem
Gewölb’ des Saiten spiels,
das tönt so süß, das tönt so schön.
Leidenschaften stillt und weckt Musik.

Trompete, dein Schmettern
erweckt uns zum Streit
mit hellerem Zorn laut
und tödlichem Lärm.
Der Trommel Doppelschlag rollt
wie Donner hohl,
schreit: horch! Der Feind kommt!
Greift an! Denn zur Flucht ist’s zu spät.

Der Flöte Klageton besetzt
in Trauernoten, die Qual
trostloser Liebe,
zu Grabe wispert sie, die sanfte Laute.

Scharf klingt der Geigenton
von Eifersucht und von Verzweiflung,
Wut und Rasen und Erbitt’rung tiefer
Qual und höchster Liebe
für die stolze Siegerin.

Doch o! Wer preiset ganz
und wer erhebt genung
der heil’gen Orgel Lob?
Sang, der Gottheits Liebe weckt.
Sang, des auf zum Himmel fleugt
und zum Engelchore stimmt.

Orpheus gewann ein wildes Volk 
und Baum entwurzelt folgten ihm,
sie zog der Ton seiner Leier.
Doch Du, Caecilia, tat’st der Wunder mehr,
wenn zu der Orgel Deine Stimm’er klang,
denn Seraphim erschienen schnell, im Wahn,
hier sei der Himmel.


Wie durch die Macht des heil’gen Sang’s,
der Sphären Tanz begann,
und Seligen des Schöpfers Preis
durch’s All des Welt ertönt.
So, wenn der letzte Schreckenstag zerstückte
Schöpfung dich verzehrt.
schallt die Posaune von der Höh’.
Was tot ist lebt, was lebet stirbt,
und Musik tönt die Welt zu Grab.

In Mozart's setting, a re-orchestration of the "Ode for St. Cecilia's Day" by Händel (HWV 76), each stanza is in a separate movement. The arrangement of voices is as follows:

Overtura
Recitativo: "Durch Harmonie"
I. Recitativo accompagnato e Coro: "Natur lag unter einer Last"
II. Aria: "Leidenschaften stillt und weckt Musik."
III. Aria e Coro: "Trompete, dein Schmettern"
IV. Marcia
V. Aria: "Der Flöte Klageton besetzt"
VI. Aria: "Scharf klingt der Geigenton"
VII. Aria: "Doch o! Wer preiset ganz"
VIII. Aria: "Orpheus gewann ein wildes Volk und Baum"
IX. Recitativo accompagnato e Coro: "Doch Du, Caecilia, tat’st der Wunder mehr"


Text Authorship:

  • possibly by Karl Wilhelm Ramler (1725 - 1798), written 1790 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in English by John Dryden (1631 - 1700), written 1687
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791), "Ode auf St. Caecilia", K. 592, first performed 1790, note: this is a re-orchestration of the Ode for St. Cecilia's Day by Georg Friedrich Händel, HWV 76 [sung text checked 1 time]

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2018-12-20
Line count: 63
Word count: 329

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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