Notes on JS Bach's Magnificat
History of the Canticle of Virgin Mary, a Hymn of Praise
JS Bach's Magnificat, is a canticle, a sacred music of praise by Mary, on learning she'll give birth to Christ. Bach's Magnificat brief history, and other information.
Johann Sebastian Bach's Magnificat, text from the Gospel of St. Luke, Chapter 1, Verses 46-55, is a sacred hymn of praise traditionally presented for Christmas. The original language is in Latin, a word for a canticle of the Virgin Mary ("My soul doth magnify the Lord") as it appears in St. Luke's Gospel. The first performance was in the church of St. Thomas in Leipzig, Christmas Vespers (1723).
Written by Bach in 1723, the first version was in E-flat major. It was revised in 1732 to form the second version in D major, the only one in existence today. Magnificat is composed of 12 musical numbers. The cast has five solo voices, five-part mixed chorus, flutes, oboes, trumpets, timpani, strings, continuo with cello, contrabass, bassoon, and organ.
Johann Sebastian Bach, (1685-1750), a German composer and organist, was born in Eisenach, Germany. He was a contemporary of George Frideric Handel.
Magnificat's History
When Bach took up his duties as cantor in the church of St. Thomas in Leipzig in 1723, so much was demanded from him to produce music. Every Sunday he had to prepare 2 new motets for the main service and another work for Sunday afternoon Vespers. Among others, he had to write a Magnificat and a Sanctus for each Christmas season.
Of these, the Magnificat composed for Christmas of 1723 is the foremost. One version of this composition, a solo cantata, has been lost, as have Bach's Latin motets. There have been different versions of the Magnificat as a choral work. It is entirely probable that Bach had composed other settings of the Magnificat, but this is version is the one available today.
Bach's Magnificat
The hymn of praise, Magnificat, is a traditional part of the cult of Mary. It is based upon Mary's words when she learns from the angel Gabriel that she will give birth to a Savior. The work begins resplendently, the 3 trumpets heralding with festive D major chords, lively orchestral prelude, from which the 5-part chorus burst out in highly embellished phrases: "Magnificat anima mea Dominum" (My soul doth magnify the Lord.). The A major bass aria follows, including the tenor aria, etc., and the 2 choral pieces that end it – "as he promised our fathers, Abraham and his descendants for ever and ever," and the mighty "Gloria Patri …" ("Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.")
The work comes to a powerful conclusion: "Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper et in saecula saeculorum, amen" ("As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, Amen") – a devotion to an exultation.
JS Bach oratorios
- Easter Oratorio (1725)
- St John Passion (1722-23, with revisions)
- St Matthew Passion (1728-29, with revisions)
- The Christmas Oratorio (1734).
Other Famous Oratorios
- Handel's Messiah
- Haydn's The Creation
- Haydn's The Seasons
- Mendelssohn's Elijah
Sources:
The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd Edition, Edited by Stanley Sadie (2000)
The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd edition, by Michael Kennedy (1994)
The World of the Oratorio by Kurt Pahlen (1990)
