Magnificat (Bach)
| Magnificat | |
|---|---|
| BWV 243 | |
| by J. S. Bach | |
17th century painting of the Visitation
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| Key | D major |
| Related | Prior version: Magnificat in E-flat major, BWV 243a (1723) |
| Occasion | Lutheran vespers on feast day |
| Performed |
|
| Movements | 12 |
| Text | |
| Vocal | SSATB choir and solo |
| Instrumental |
|
| Magnificat | |
|---|---|
| BWV 243a | |
| by J. S. Bach | |
Adoration of the Shepherds, Augsburg, around 1730
|
|
| Key | E-flat major |
| Related | base for Magnificat in D major, BWV 243 (1733) |
| Occasion | Lutheran vespers on feast day |
| Performed |
|
| Movements | 12 (+ 4 for Christmas) |
| Text |
|
| Vocal | SSATB choir and solo |
| Instrumental |
|
Johann Sebastian Bach's Magnificat is a musical setting of the biblical canticle Magnificat. It is scored for five vocal parts (two sopranos, alto, tenor and bass), and a Baroque orchestra including trumpets and timpani. It is the first major liturgical composition on a Latin text by Bach.
In 1723, after taking up his post as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, Bach set the text of the Magnificat in a twelve movement composition in the key of E-flat major. For a performance at Christmas he inserted four hymns (laudes) related to that feast. This version, including the Christmas interpolations, was given the number BWV 243a in the catalogue of Bach's works.
For the feast of Visitation of 1733, Bach produced a new version of his Latin Magnificat, without the Christmas hymns: instrumentation of some movements was altered or expanded, and the key changed from E-flat major to D major, for performance reasons of the trumpet parts. This version of Bach's Magnificat is known as BWV 243.
After publication of both versions in the 19th century, the second became the standard for performance. It is one of Bach's most popular vocal works.
In Leipzig, the Magnificat was regularly part of Sunday services, sung in German on ordinary Sundays but more elaborately and in Latin on the high holidays (Christmas, Easter and Pentecost) and on the three Marian feasts Annunciation, Visitation and Purification.
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Wikipedia