Cecil would probably want me to tell you --

[profbutters]

--that it is St. Cecilia's Day. I can take no credit for this: I had totally forgotten it myself, but was reminded when I attended church today (Feast of Christ the King.)



(St. Cecilia, Guido Reni)

Stacilee ( swhedonberry ) was the first to point out to me that Cecilia shares the name of the patron saint of music, and it was one of those D'OH! moments. Of course she does. Cecil was named after Cecil Rhodes, and Cecilia is named Cecilia after her father, because he is such an egotist like that (and if you haven't read that bit of my legacy yet for some reason, that's all I'm sayin'.)

BUT, once I figured that out, I realized that I'd probably subconsciously been using a lot of Cecilian imagery. Cecilia is, after all, one of the Incorruptibles: a Roman virgin martyr so virgin martyry that supposedly her body remained inviolate after death. She also supposedly remained a virgin after marriage, having informed her young husband that she was guarded by an angel. She's the patron saint of music; she's usually pictured with an organ (though not always); and her other primary symbol is the rose.





She had a rather nasty death, poor thing: after they tried to scald her to death in the baths, they tried to whack her head off several times, and she bled for three days before she died.



Stefano Madano's statue on her tomb in Rome. Note slice in neck. Supposedly this is what she looked like when they opened up her tomb in 1599.

My Cecilia's had a rough time of it, and there are some parallels there, though she hasn't had as rough a time as that, and it's her father who plays the organ. (Incidentally, you might be surprised what he's playing on it.)

John Dryden wrote a "Song for St. Cecilia's Day" in 1687, which begins:

From Harmony, from heavenly 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 heavenly Harmony,
This universal frame began,
Through all the compass of the notes it ran,
The diapason closing full in man.

Lots and lots of seventeenth century beliefs here: God as the Artist, the music of the spheres, humors theory, and let's not forget that Man sits on the very tippy-top of Creation. You can read the whole thing here : Dryden imitates all kinds of different instruments in the poetry. When he gets to the organ, he refers to Cecilia:

But bright Cecilia rais'd the wonder higher;
When to her organ, vocal breath was giv'n,
An angel heard, and straight appeared,
Mistaking Earth for Heav'n.


Handel did a rather nice setting. Can you hear the bit where the chorus is singing about Harmony running the full "compass" (range of notes) "closing full in Man"?

And my favorite, Benjamin Britten's Hymn to St. Cecilia, with words by W.H. Auden:


In a garden shady this holy lady
With reverent cadence and subtle psalm,
Like a black swan as death came on
Poured forth her song in perfect calm:
And by ocean's margin this innocent virgin
Constructed an organ to enlarge her prayer,
And notes tremendous from her great engine
Thundered out on the Roman air.
Blonde Aphrodite rose up excited,
Moved to delight by the melody,
White as an orchid she rode quite naked
In an oyster shell on top of the sea;
At sounds so entrancing the angels dancing
Came out of their trance into time again,
And around the wicked in Hell's abysses
The huge flame flickered and eased their pain.
Blessed Cecilia, appear in visions
To all musicians, appear and inspire:
Translated Daughter, come down and startle
Composing mortals with immortal fire.

As I said, I was largely unaware of what I was writing about, which so often happens. But Stacilee (Whedonberry) and Seenodumdums23 (Lords of the Isle: Mercator Legacy) have done some rather nice things with her and really used the connection with the organ.

Anyway, I thought you might enjoy all that. I carry around a lot of extra material in my skull as a hazard of being a nearly constant tourist to seventeenth-century England.

I haven't been able to play too much: I had a lot of grading to do. I was a good girl and got it done, so I'll be catching up on Legacy Comments tonight and perhaps playing a bit.

Comments

[honorkid54.livejournal.com]

Cecilia's story strikes me as so beautiful, especially the ending of her life. She converted her husband, who was a terrible pagan into a christian, and just her death makes me cringe but also look up to her. The fact that she could take a blow to her neck, and still ask for the eucharist... man.

That painting is amazing, I love Reni's works. And the poetry is also nice.

[lauriempress.livejournal.com]

And even if Cecil didn't want you to tell us, Max would insist. ;)

Nice meta, Prof. Thanks!

Lauri

[swhedonberry.livejournal.com]

This was lovely. I find the mythos behind names to be absolutely fascinating. I've noticed that often personality traits are similar amongst people with the same name. For example, I know five men with the same name (which I won't give just in case)who have vastly different backgrounds. One I babysat when I was in high school, one was a friend in high school, one was a friend in college, and one is a friend now, and one is family. I've kept up with all them. They all have the same problems with women, the same personality disorder, the same taste in music, and all of them are fairly certain of their intellect and artistic prowess, though not all of them are in the arts as a career. Their similarities are uncanny. I know that it is likely a coincidence, but I have theories otherwise. Maybe people hear stories and mythos surrounding real and legendary figures with their name and subconsciously weave those elements into their personality. Thoughts?

Back OT: Cecilia (obviously) has become one of my favorite characters in simdom and I look forward to having her grow up amongst the characters in my story. This has given me some great ideas for what her future might hold both in your world and mine.

[profbutters.livejournal.com]

I know my name has had an effect on me, including the devotion to industry, the determination to be "one of the good ones" (the bee woman is the only good one in the Catalogue of Women) and the balance between honey and sting. I even planted my garden to be favorable to bees!

I think it has less to do with the name in general (which became quite popular several years later) and my mothers' having named me after a Greek Lyric poem.

I love Cecilia, though I wouldn't want to be her, poor thing. She probably could blossom in a quiet way if she were able to heal, and that will require patience.