Saint Cecilia in the Renaissance

“In this thoroughly researched study, Rice takes his readers through the changing image of an elusive yet inspiring figure with a growing presence in the musical, visual, devotional, and social history of sixteenth-century Europe. Rice skillfully situates Cecilia at the crossroads of earthly and spiritual concerns, gender politics, and pervasive cultural dynamics across the continent. The result is a rich journey into the afterlife of an early Christian martyr turned into a musical icon for the emerging religious and institutional landscape of early modern Europe.” * Stefano Mengozzi, University of Michigan *
“Saint Cecilia in the Renaissance is a meticulously researched and convincing picture of the figure of Saint Cecilia and her cultural importance from the Middle Ages to the end of the Renaissance. Rice has provided a fascinating and accessible narrative that reveals a variety of social and musical activities related to the veneration of the saint. Visually instructive and appealing, the book will be of interest to musicologists, art historians, historians, and nonspecialists alike.” * Patrick Macey, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester *
“In this interdisciplinary book filled with historical texts, illustrations, and musical analyses, Rice reveals the transformative power of music as he demonstrates how musicians, first in the Netherlands and Cologne, and then in France, Italy, and London, reinvented St. Cecilia, a nonmusical Roman virgin-martyr, as their favored patroness and as a singer, organist, or performer on the virginal, clavichord, violin, bass viol, or lute. Two words, ‘Cantantibus organis,’ from the fifth-century description of Cecilia’s wedding, guide Rice and his readers to her appearances in the famous Hartker Codex, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, confraternity chapels, an altar in the Roman Pantheon, extravagant feasting to music on 22 November, plays, an alliterative poem on ‘C,’ competitions of composers, a papal mass for three choirs and three organs, and to more than one-hundred forty choral works celebrating her by Isaac, Clemens non Papa, Gombert, Guerrero, Lassus, Palestrina, Anerio, Marenzio, Purcell, and others. This study many years in the making is cultural history at its best.” * Barbara Haggh-Huglo, University of Maryland, College Park *
"John A. Rice’s new book St. Cecilia in the Renaissance: The Emergence of a Musical Icon gives a definitive account of this evolution of a lesser martyr into celebrated muse and patron saint of music and musicians. He traces the development of the cult of St. Cecilia through Christian liturgy, the visual arts and music, starting in northern Europe in the Middle Ages and moving to Italy, when an explosion of polyphonic vocal works were written in her honour by some of the most celebrated composers in Europe... the book is generous with both musical examples and colour plates." * The Lady Organist *
"John Rice’s new book is a brilliant accounting of how the exchange between art, music, and liturgy shaped [Saint Cecilia's] identity. Through an extensive survey of visual representations and liturgical celebrations, Rice shows that St. Cecilia’s patronage of music has its roots both in the liturgy and an evolving iconographic tradition." * Early Music America *
"The range of Rice's scholarship and his in-depth knowledge are astonishing . . . [Saint Cecilia in the Renaissance] augments our knowledge of the cultural and religious life of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance."  * Burlington Magazine *
"Rice’s book is a readable and richly researched work that makes an invaluable contribution to the understanding of this saint’s iconographic evolution." -- Julia Faiers * Journal of the British Archaeological Association *
"The complexity of tracing the conflicting understandings and representations of Saint Cecilia across media, space, and time poses a daunting task, but Rice weaves these diverse threads into his account in a persistent and thoughtful way." * Journal of Religion *

"Saint Cecilia in the Renaissance: The Emergence of a Musical Icon succeeds in considerably enriching our understanding of this fascinating saint and the intricate visual and musical connections surrounding her, while bringing together for scholars of all fields an impressive array of primary and secondary materials. . .  Rice’s book leaves us, therefore, not only with answers but also with an invitation to revive our curiosity about this female saint who fled all earthly music only to become a musical icon herself."

* Yale Journal of Music & Religion *