Magnificat
tagStarted 1400Peak 1500–1800Last big hit still active
Located in 1 route
Magnificat settings center on the canticle from Luke, often alternating exultant proclamation with luminous devotion and finely profiled textual contrasts. The sound typically favors bright choral sonority, festive trumpets or organ in larger settings, and a sense of liturgical joy tempered by reverence.
History
Used especially in Vespers, the Magnificat became a major sacred form for composers from Renaissance polyphonists to Monteverdi, Bach, Vivaldi, Stanford, Howells, Rutter, and Pärt; because the text naturally invites both grandeur and intimacy, it has remained one of the most durable canticle forms in sacred art music.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Magnificat in G — Choir of King's College CambridgeSpotifyYouTube
- Magnificat, BWV 243 — Monteverdi ChoirSpotifyYouTube
- Magnificat — The SixteenSpotifyYouTube
- Magnificat primi toni — Westminster Cathedral ChoirSpotifyYouTube
- Magnificat — Estonian Philharmonic Chamber ChoirSpotifyYouTube
- Vespro della Beata Vergine: Magnificat — Gabrieli ConsortSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Oxford Music Online
- Grove Music Online
- cathedral and sacred label notes from Hyperion, BIS, and Naxos