The Magnificat, in Latin also canticum Beat(issim)ae Virginis Mariae (the song of the (most) Blessed Virgin Mary), is a common part of Christian worship, for instance traditionally included in vespers, evensong or matins.[1][2] As such it is often sung and was set to music by various composers.
Tonus X (tenth tone): Magnificat decimi toni – for later composers using this see e.g. Psalmi vespertini quatuor vocibus concinendi cum organo ad libitum, Op. 8 by Angelo Berardi (1675)
Apart from the Magnificat sung to the psalm tones, in Gregorian chant there are also the Magnificat antiphons or O Antiphons inspiring composers like Arvo Pärt.
In seventeenth century polyphony no other religious text, apart from the Mass Ordinary, was set more often than the Magnificat. Often only six out of twelve verses of the Magnificat were set in polyphony, performance alternating verses sung in polyphony and verses sung in monody according to the church tone. In such alternatim settings the even verses were chosen more often for setting in polyphony, because they contained the last verse of the doxology, so that the singing of the Magnificat ended with a piece in polyphony.[5]
Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros Abraham et semini ejus in saecula.
11. (doxology)
Gloria Patri, et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.
12. (doxology)
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Examples of such settings include the sixteen Magnificat settings by Cristóbal de Morales: half of these include only the odd verses ("anima mea" settings), the others only the even verses ("Et exultavit" settings) – both series of eight settings by Morales have one setting per traditional church tone.
Bars 10–13 of Jean Titelouze's second setting of Deposuit potentes from Magnificat primi toni. The subject of this inversion fugue is highlighted with shades of blue.
In Anglicanism a Magnificat is usually combined with a Nunc dimittis in an (Evening) Service, in which case the English translation of the text ("My soul doth magnify the Lord") is used. For example, Orlando Gibbons composed such Services. In Orthodox Christianity the Magnificat, or "Song of the Theotokos", is sung in the Orthros (matins) as part of the Canon. All-night vigils include the Orthros, and a setting of such vigil thus usually includes the setting of a Magnificat, e.g. the "Canticle of the Theotokos" («Величитъ душа моя Господа», Velichit dusha moya Gospoda, "My soul doth magnify the Lord"), No. 13 in Tchaikovsky's All-Night Vigil.
Eight odd verse and eight even verse Magnificats in Magnificat octo tonum cum quatuor vocibus (Venice, 1561); Magnificat from Hymni totius anni ... et Magnificat (1558) lost
Psalmi omnes ad vesperas ... vna cum tribus Magnificat, quorum vnum tum pari tum plena voce ... quatuor vocum (Venice, 1569); Magnificat omnitoni cum quatuor quinque et sex vocibus ... (Venice, 1582)
Cantiones sacrae quinque vocum quas vulgo Motectas vocant quibus adjunctae sunt octo Magnificat secundum octo tonos […] tum omnivario instrumentorum concentui [...] (1599)
Psalmi ad vesperas ... duoque cantica beatae virginis ... (1592); Psalmi ad vesperas ... duoque cantica beatae virginis (1596); Psalmi ad vesperas in totius anni festivitatibus, ac tria cantica Beatae Virginis Mariae (1603)
Full Magnificat cycle for organ (Tonus I-VIII + 'Germanice', 1611); Magnificats a 8 in all traditional Gregorian tones, among which a Magnificat 5. Toni cum canticis Ecclesiasticis (i.e. with Christmas interpolations, 1622)
Canticum Beatissimae Virginis Deiparae Mariae (1618): four-, five-, six- and eight-voice settings, each in eight tones, some with even, some with odd verses
Several Magnificats, e.g. Magnificat "Ut re mi fa sol la", Magnificat "In te, Domine, speravi" and Magnificat "Chorale melos germanicum" included in Megalynodia Sionia (1611); Magnificat Primi Toni (organ)
Das schöne und geistreiche Magnificat der hochgelobten Jungfrauen Mariae (...) auf die zwölf modos musicales in ihrer natürlichen Ordnung unterschiedlich mit vier Stimmen gesetzt. (Leipzig, 1599)
Ten Magnificats, e.g. Magnificat for soloists, chorus, 2 treble instruments and continuo H 72 (1670?); Magnificatfor ATB, two treble instruments and continuo, H. 73 (1670–71); Magnificat à 8 voix et 8 instruments, H. 74 for soloists, double chorus, double orchestra and double continuo (1680); Magnificat à 3 dessus for 3 voices and continuo H 75; (1683–85); Magnificat à 4 voix sans instruments, H. 76 (1688–90); Magnificat for soloists, chorus, flutes, strings an continuo H 77 (1680–90); Magnificat for soloists, chorus flutes, strings and continuo H 78 (1680-90?); Troisième Magnificat à 4 voix avec instruments for soloists, chorus, flutes, strings and continuo H 79 (1690); Magnificat for 4 voices and continuo H 80(1690); Magnificat pour le Port-Royal for soloists, chorus and continuo H 81(1690–1700).
«Величитъ душа моя Господа» (Velichit dusha moya Gospoda – "My soul doth magnify the Lord"), Canticle of the Theotokos, No. 13 in All-Night Vigil (1882)
A major, for SATB choir and organ, D major, for trebles or SATB choir and organ, G major, for SATB choir and organ, G Major, for ATB choir and organ, G Major, for treble choir and organ
Vespers is a liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Lutheran liturgies. The word for this prayer time comes from the Latin vesper, meaning "evening".
The Magnificat is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos. It is traditionally incorporated into the liturgical services of the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheran Churches and the Anglican Communion. Its name comes from the incipit of the Latin version of the text.
Vespro della Beata Vergine, SV 206, is a musical setting by Claudio Monteverdi of the evening vespers on Marian feasts, scored for soloists, choirs, and orchestra. It is an ambitious work in scope and in its variety of style and scoring, and has a duration of around 90 minutes. Published in Venice as Sanctissimae Virgini Missa senis vocibus ac Vesperae pluribus decantandae, cum nonnullis sacris concentibus, ad Sacella sive Principum Cubicula accommodata, it is sometimes called Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610.
In the context of Christian liturgy, a canticle is a psalm-like song with biblical lyrics taken from elsewhere than the Book of Psalms, but included in psalters and books such as the breviary. Of special importance to the Divine Office are three New Testament Canticles that are the climaxes of the Offices of Lauds, Vespers and Compline; these are respectively Benedictus, Magnificat and Nunc dimittis. There are also a number of Canticles taken from the Old Testament.
John Sheppard was an English composer of the Renaissance.
Anglican church music is music that is written for Christian worship in Anglican religious services, forming part of the liturgy. It mostly consists of pieces written to be sung by a church choir, which may sing a cappella or accompanied by an organ.
In chant, a reciting tone can refer to either a repeated musical pitch or to the entire melodic formula for which that pitch is a structural note. In Gregorian chant, the first is also called tenor, dominant or tuba, while the second includes psalm tones as well as simpler formulae for other readings and for prayers.
Orthros or útrenya, in the Byzantine Rite of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches, is the last of the four night offices, the other three being vespers, compline, and midnight office. Traditionally, in monasteries it is held daily so as to end immediately following sunrise, in contrast to parishes where it is held only on Sundays and feast days. It is often called matins after the office it most nearly corresponds to in Western Christian churches.
In 1724 Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Meine Seel erhebt den Herren, BWV10, as part of his second cantata cycle. Taken from Martin Luther's German translation of the Magnificat canticle, the title translates as "My soul magnifies the Lord". Also known as Bach's German Magnificat, the work follows his chorale cantata format.
Ambrosian chant is the liturgical plainchant repertory of the Ambrosian rite of the Roman Catholic Church, related to but distinct from Gregorian chant. It is primarily associated with the Archdiocese of Milan, and named after St. Ambrose much as Gregorian chant is named after Gregory the Great. It is the only surviving plainchant tradition besides the Gregorian to maintain the official sanction of the Roman Catholic Church.
Johann Sebastian Bach's Magnificat, BWV 243, is a musical setting of the biblical canticle Magnificat. It is scored for five vocal parts, and a Baroque orchestra including trumpets and timpani. It is the first major liturgical composition on a Latin text by Bach.
The tonus peregrinus, also known as the wandering tone, or the ninth tone, is a psalm tone used in Gregorian chant.
Ginés de Boluda was a Spanish church musician and composer.
Vesperae solennes de confessore, K. 339, is a sacred choral composition, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1780. It is scored for SATB choir and soloists, violin I, violin II, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones colla parte, 2 timpani, and basso continuo.
Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. It is loosely based on the canonical hours of vespers and compline. Old English speakers translated the Latin word vesperas as æfensang, which became 'evensong' in modern English. Typically used in reference to the Anglican daily office's evening liturgy, it can also refer to the pre-Reformation form of vespers or services of evening prayer from other denominations, particularly within the Anglican Use of the Catholic Church.
The Magnificat in E-flat major, BWV243a, also BWV243.1, by Johann Sebastian Bach is a musical setting of the Latin text of the Magnificat, Mary's canticle from the Gospel of Luke. It was composed in 1723 and is in twelve movements, scored for five vocal parts and a Baroque orchestra of trumpets, timpani, oboes, strings and basso continuo including bassoon. Bach revised the work some ten years later, transposing it from E-flat major to D major, and creating the version mostly performed today, BWV 243.
Meine Seele erhebt den Herren is Martin Luther's translation of the Magnificat canticle. It is traditionally sung to a German variant of the tonus peregrinus, a rather exceptional psalm tone in Gregorian chant. The tonus peregrinus is associated with the ninth mode or Aeolian mode. For the traditional setting of Luther's German Magnificat that is the minor mode for which the last note of the melodic formula is the tonic, a fifth below its opening note.
The Daily Office in Anglican churches focuses the traditional canonical hours on daily services of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, usually following the Book of Common Prayer. As in other Christian traditions, either clergy or laity can lead the daily office. Most Anglican clergy are required to pray Morning and Evening Prayer daily.
Pietro Torri's Magnificat in C major for double choir and orchestra likely dates from the 1690s. The work is scored for two SATB choirs, two trumpets, bassoon, strings and basso continuo. Its music opens with an instrumental introduction (sinfonia). Most of the composition's movements are either choral movements, in which all singers and instruments participate, or duets for two singers and a more limited instrumental accompaniment.
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