We were talking about Mary yesterday, weren't we. Well, let's carry on, then. We’re running with the
big dogs today. It’s the Magnificat,
by J.S. Bach.
A Magnificat is a song of Mary; it comes from her response to the
Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel. “My soul doth magnify the lord.”
The Canticle of Mary is
most often heard during vespers or Evensong in the Western liturgy. And, of
course, during Advent, when we are generally thinking about the whole Nativity
story.
Many composers have
taken a whack at Magnificat, and Papa
Bach himself had two goes at it—the one I’m giving you today, in E-flat major,
and a later version in D major. This one has several Christmas-related inclusions
(including “Vom Himmel hoch”, “Freut euch und jubilieret” and “Gloria in
excelsis Deo”) that are missing from the other one.
I once sang it with a
choir, and let me just say that there are a lot of moving parts in a Bach
piece, particularly in the soprano section. If you lose your place, you may
never find your way back
This is the entire work,
a good 30 minutes worth. Crank up the volume to the max and let yourself be
subsumed in this incredible beauty.
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