text: magnificat in e - flat major , bwv 243a the magnificat in e - flat major , bwv 243a , by johann sebastian bach is a musical setting of the latin text of the magnificat , the canticle from the gospel of luke . it was composed in 1723 and is in twelve movements . bach revised the work ten years later , transposing it from e - flat major to d major , and creating the version mostly performed today , bwv 243 . the work is scored for five vocal parts ( two sopranos , alto , tenor and bass ) and a baroque orchestra of trumpets , timpani , oboes , strings and basso continuo including bassoon . the work was first performed in leipzig in 1723 . in may that year bach assumed his position as thomaskantor and embarked on an ambitious series of compositions . the magnificat was sung at vesper services on feast days , and , according to recent research , bach 's setting was written for a performance on 2 july , celebrating the marian feast of the visitation . for christmas the same year , he performed it at the nikolaikirche with the insertion of four seasonal movements . as a regular part of vespers , the canticle magnificat was often set to music for liturgical use . bach , as some of his contemporaries , devotes individual expression to every verse of the canticle , one even split in two for a dramatic effect . in a carefully designed structure , four choral movements are evenly distributed ( 1 , 4 , 7 , 11 ) . they frame sets of two or three movements sung by one to three voices , with individual instrumental colour . the work is concluded by a choral doxology ( 12 ) , which ends in a recapitulation of the beginning on the text " as it was in the beginning " . in bach 's leipzig period , magnificat is the first major work on a latin text and for five vocal parts . background bach 's beginning in leipzig bach composed the magnificat in 1723 , his first year as thomaskantor in leipzig , music director of the main lutheran churches in the city . he had worked previously as an organist in arnstadt , mühlhausen and weimar , where he was promoted to konzertmeister ( director of music ) in 1714 . from 1717 to 1723 he held a secular position at the court of köthen . he applied for the post in leipzig on 7 february 1723 , performing two cantatas written for the audition on estomihi or quinquagesima , the last sunday before lent . in april he was accepted for the post , which he assumed on the first sunday after trinity , presenting a new cantata in 14 movements , die elenden sollen essen , bwv 75 , on 30 may . a week later he led the new cantata die himmel erzählen die ehre gottes , bwv 76 , again in 14 movements . the feast of the visitation , celebrated always on 2 july , was a few weeks later the first marian feast day of his tenure in leipzig . magnificat the canticle magnificat , one of three new testament canticles , has long been a regular part of the liturgy in daily vesper services . after the reformation , martin luther kept the magnificat in the liturgy . he provided a german translation of the canticle , " meine seele erhebt den herren " ( which bach used as the basis for his chorale cantata meine seel erhebt den herren , bwv 10 ) . however , the latin text was also permitted in lutheran worship . the canticle was often set to music . contemporary extended settings include works by heinichen and by vivaldi . bach had an audience familiar with the text and its background . in leipzig , a latin magnificat was sung on the high holidays ( christmas , easter and pentecost , then performed on two of the three days of celebration ) and on the three marian feasts annunciation , visitation and purification . according to some scholars , further feast days included new year 's day , epiphany , feast of the ascension , trinity sunday , st. john 's day and st. michael 's day , and the vespers before the feast days . composition history bach composed the work in 1723 , his first year as thomaskantor in leipzig , probably for the feast of the visitation . for the occasion , he presented the magnificat as his first work on a latin text and his first five - part choral setting in leipzig . otherwise , he used five voices in the funeral motet jesu , meine freude , the missa in b minor , composed in 1733 for the court of dresden , from which he derived the derived cantata gloria in excelsis deo , bwv 191 , and in the mass in b minor . richard d. p. jones notes : " without exception these works lie outside the normal routine of bach 's sacred vocal works " . bach probably first performed the magnificat on the feast day , 2 july . until 2003 , most musicologists believed that bach wrote the magnificat for his first christmas in leipzig . then andreas glöckner published bachs es - dur - magnificat bwv 243a – eine genuine ? ( bach 's magnificat in e - flat major , bwv 243a – a genuine christmas music ? ) in the bach - jahrbuch ( bach yearbook ) 89 , questioning the christmas date in favour of visitation the same year . older sources naturally still have christmas as the first performance , for example neil jenkins , the editor of an edition for novello in 2000 . he writes that the " new thomaskantor was obviously intending to impress his new employer and the congregation " , which makes even more sense at the beginning of bach 's tenure . not all scholars follow glöckner 's arguments , but jones agrees with glöckner : " ... may well have received its first performance at the feast of the visitation on 2 july 1723 , only five weeks after he took up his leipzig post . " for christmas the same year , bach performed his magnificat with four inserted laudes , songs of praise related to christmas , partly in german , partly in latin . in a vespers service on 25 december 1723 , he performed the cantata christen , ätzet diesen tag , bwv 63 , and the magnificat at the nikolaikirche , on 26 december the cantata darzu ist erschienen der sohn gottes , bwv 40 , in the thomaskirche . bach used as a cantus firmus in movement 10 the chant associated with luther 's german version of the magnificat canticle , " meine seele erhebt den herren " . a year later bach composed for the feast of the visitation the chorale cantata meine seel erhebt den herren , bwv 10 , based on the german magnificat . the musicologist alberto compared the two settings which were possibly performed in one service on 2 july 1724 . for visitation of 1733 , bach revised his magnificat , creating the version better known today . in that version , transposed to d major , the laudes interpolations were abandoned . limited differences in instrumentation include replacing the recorders by flutes and including these in the tutti movements . changes in musical texture were even smaller , mellowing the harmony near the end of the omnes generationes movement being the most noticeable . bach 's son carl philipp emanuel bach followed the example of an extended setting , composing a magnificat in nine movements in 1749 , at the end of his father 's life . scoring and structure bach scored the work festively . the autograph reads : " j.j. magnificat à 3 trombe tamburi 2 hautb . basson . 2 violini . viola 5 voci è continuo " , translating to : jesu ( " jesus , help ! " ) / magnificat for three trumpets , timpani , two oboes , bassoon , two violins , viola , five voices , continuo ) . the five voices are two sopranos ( si , sii ) , alto ( a ) , tenor ( t ) and bass ( b ) ) . the instruments of the baroque orchestra are listed in the first publication by simrock in 1811 as " due violini , due oboe , tre , tamburi , , viola e basso continuo " , i.e. two violins , two oboes , three trumpets ( in e - flat ) , timpani ( e - flat and b - flat ) , bassoon , viola and basso continuo . two recorders ( flauto dolce ) are required for aria no. 9 esurientes . movements bach structured the text in eleven movements for the canticle ( luke 1 : 46 – 55 ) , concluded by a twelfth doxology movement . each verse of the canticle is assigned to one movement , except verse 48 , beginning with a soprano solo in the role of mary ( third movement ) , then switching to the fourth movement sung by the chorus when " all generations " are mentioned . the structure , alternating choral and solo movements , is similar to " contemporary italian concerted settings of the magnificat " . the four christmas hymn movements are placed after the second , fifth , seventh and ninth movement on the magnificat text . choral movements are evenly distributed in the structure , numbers 1 , 4 , 7 , and 11 within the canticle , and the concluding doxology as movement 12 . choral movements 1 , 7 and 12 are accompanied by the full orchestra ( tutti ) , with the exceptions of the recorders which add specific colour only in movement 9 . the movements for one to three solo voices are accompanied by an obbligato instrument or only strings or even only continuo , as in bach 's church cantatas . in two consecutive solo movements , the second one is often in richer scoring . the work contains , other than typical cantatas on baroque poetry , no da capo arias . similar to the first two leipzig cantatas , bwv 75 and bwv 76 , it is a complex structure of rather short movements . the following table shows the title , voices and instruments , time , key and text sources for the twelve movements for visitation and the inserted movements for christmas . note that the timpani are no wind instruments but always go with the trumpets . the basso continuo is not listed , playing almost throughout . the first christmas chorale is a four - part setting with no continuo . in suscepit israel , the lowest line played by violins and viola in unison has been described as a bassett and an " unusual continuo " . the last column , dig , provides a link to the bach digital database , for more details such as scoring and the text . the christmas interpolations are highlighted in colour , as are the choral movements , the movements with trumpets , and those movements of the canticle that are in major mode . the twelve movements of the magnificat canticle 1 the opening movement magnificat anima mea ( my soul magnifies the lord ) is performed by all voices and all instruments except the recorders . the instruments present the material with almost continuous runs in the upper parts , octaves and broken triads in the bass . the sopranos enter first , in third parallels : they sing the first word " magnificat " ( literally : makes great ) with a melisma on the first syllable , ending in a figure like a trill , then a stressed dotted note on the stressed syllable " " , and relaxing on " " . the motif is abbreviated to a " fanfare figure " of just four notes , a low upbeat followed by three same notes , with the first one dotted . the sopranos sing it twice , reaching first e - flat , then g. the interplay of the fanfare and the melismas shapes the movement . one measure after the sopranos , alto and tenor begin to imitate the sopranos , another measure later , the bass adds the short motif as an octave up . the text remains magnificat for most of the movement . after the voices conclude with " dominum " , the instruments close in a shortened version of their opening . 2 et exultavit spiritus meus ( and my spirit rejoices in god my saviour ) is an aria , as an image of personal celebration , sung by soprano ii , accompanied by the strings . the major - mode and motifs of joy in the instruments illustrate the exultation . et exultavit ( and exults ) begins with a broken upward triad followed by a rest , suggesting a spiritus meus ( my spirit ) is a sequence of 16th notes , two for every syllable . longer melismas illustrate ( salvation ) . a note in the autograph requests the insertion of the first christmas interpolation here : " folget der choral : vom himmel hoch , da kom ich her " ( here follows the chorale : vom himmel hoch , da kom ich her ) . 3 quia respexit ( for he has regarded the lowliness [ of his handmaiden . ] is an aria sung by soprano i with an obbligato oboe . looking at the humility , the aria contrast to the preceding one in slow movement and the minor mode . hogwood writes : " humility is a downwards gesture , and so everything takes a long , s - shaped movement downwards , with a little rise at the end " , and comments that the use of limited resources of one wind instrument and the voice have " a subservient feel to it . " steinberg comments that voice and instrument first share the material in a " contemplative duet " , but on enim ex hoc beatam ( behold , from henceforth , i will be called blessed ) the voice changes to a " simpler , more declamatory style " . " all the phrases turn upwards " in what describes as " an internalised dialogue " , expecting that " nobody in the church would have been expecting the sudden burst of ' omnes ' " . 4 the continuation of the verse and completion of the sentence , omnes generationes ( by all generations ) is given to the chorus , expressing the fullness of the praise . hogwood compares the " crowd effect " to bach 's the crowds in bach 's passions . the movement is a fugue which follows the stretto principle from the start and throughout . beginning in measure 10 , the voices enter , again half a measure apart , with the bass beginning . from measure 15 , every entrance is one note higher , covering an octave as a symbol of completeness ( omnes ) , again in the fast succession of half a measure : a , sii , si , t , b , sii , si , a. in a final sequence beginning in measure 21 , the voices enter from bottom to top on the same note , only one beat apart . after a " very triumphal , but unfinished , chord " and a general pause , the movement concludes repeating the theme in homophony . steinberg comments that bach took the idea of separating the two words from the rest of the verse from earlier models , but filled it with an " exciting sense of drama " by the piled - up entrances in a " tremendous march across key after key " , leading to " tense dissonances " , finally a " dramatic pause " before the last statement . 5 quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est ( for the mighty one has done great things for me ) is an aria sung by the bass , accompanied only by the continuo . the motif , again beginning with repeated notes , is introduced by four measures of the continuo , then repeated by the voice . a ritornello is repeated throughout the movement , with a downward leap of a sixth and a downward scale of an octave which appears in the voice on the word " sanctum " ( holy ) , in et sanctum nomen eius ( and holy is his name ) . god 's might shows in the bass voice and the dominant key of b - flat major . a note in the autograph requests the insertion of the second christmas interpolation here : " folget freut euch u. jubilirt " ( follows freut euch u. jubilirt ) . 6 et misericordia a in progenies , ( his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation ) begins in great contrast softly with undulating movement in 12 / 8 time , played by the violins . it is a duet of alto and tenor , beginning in parallels of sixths and staying in homophony for most of the movement . the theme resembles the sarabande of bach 's first french suite in d minor , bwv 812 . hogwood compares the music to the pastoral sinfonia beginning part ii of bach 's christmas oratorio , " creating a romantic , soft - edged , almost comforting sound " . jones remarks that " ( who fear him ) is " full of pathos and built over a partly chromatic , quasi - ostinato bass " , while the " divine quality of mercy is expressed in beatific parallel thirds of the violins in the ritornello " . 7 fecit potentiam ( he has shown strength ) shares key , scoring and dotted motifs with the first movement . based on a continuo line of octaves and repeated 16th notes , strength is expressed by irregular coloraturas in one voice and homophonic simultaneous calls of the other voices . the tenor begins the coloraturas of four measures , followed by alto , sii , bass and si , leading to the climax of the movement , two homophonic calls . the new text , ( he has scattered ) , appears in various voices as broken triads , juxtaposed to material from the first section , but then isolated , in a sequence from the highest voice to the lowest and in downward triads . joes describes : " ... the fugue is dispersed ( ' ' ) in favour of a highly graphic , dramatic portrayal of the words ' he has scattered ... ' " . the conclusion , mente cordis sui ( in the thoughts of their hearts ) , is marked adagio and illustrates the text in pompous long chords , with accents in the trumpets . hogwood notes that bach shows " complete imagination " in " very strange , incomplete yet wonderful harmonies " , the trumpet playing their highest available note as an image of " rich people ’ s hearts , who have been misled by worldly promises " . a note in the autograph requests the insertion of the third christmas interpolation here : " das gloria in excelsis deo " ( here belongs the gloria in excelsis deo ) . 8 deposuit potentes ( he has brought down the powerful ) is an aria for tenor , accompanied by only the violins ( and continuo ) united in powerful unison . the instrumental ritornello of 14 measures presents the material . the first motif , later sung on " deposuit " , begins with a short upbeat and a long note , followed by a straight downward scale and a final leap up , while the continuo presents a broken triad , straight upward one octave . the second motif , later sung on " potentes " , begins with an upbeat of three 16th , followed by a rhythmic pattern which expands both the lowest as the highest note , while the continuo moves in steady steps down . for the third motif , sung on " de sede " ( from their thrones ) , the continuo picks up the rhythm of the second motif , while the violins play a more ornamented downward motion in sixteen continuous 16th . a fourth motif is a sequence of three measures , each a sequence of a figure of a figure of four 16th which is slowly moving upwards . when the singer takes over , the violins accent the end of each motif one to three by a broken downward triad . the second thought of the verse , " et exaltavit humiles " ( and lifted up the lowly ) , is sung without introduction as a melisma of four measures , which includes downward runs but in a steadily rising sequence and ending similarly to the sequence of motif four , on " exaltavit " , but a modest downward line on " humiles " ( the lowly ) . after a shorter ritornello , the tenor sings the complete text again , the first part in a slightly modified version , but the exaltation considerably expanded . nonetheless , the ritornello in full length is repeated at the end . 9 esurientes implevit bonis ( he has filled the hungry with good things ) is sung by the alto , accompanied by two recorders which may symbolise the need of the hungry . bach used recorders also in his later cantata brich dem hungrigen dein brot , bwv 39 . they often play in parallels of sixths and thirds . the ritornello of eight measures introduces a motif moving up , on a continuo of steady quarter note , for four measures , later sung on esurientes implevit bonis , while downward lines and a continuo moving in eighth notes later go with et dimisit ( and sent the rich away empty ) . in latin , the last word is ( empty ) , which bach sometimes separates by rests . the continuo is plucked in " the emptiest sound " , even on the last note , on which the recorders are silent . a note in the autograph requests the insertion of the fourth christmas interpolation here : " folget virga jesse floruit " ( follows virga jesse floruit ) . 10 suscepit israel suum ( he has helped his servant israel ) is scored for an unusual combination of the three highest voices , violins and violas in unison and trumpet . the text continues recordatus ( in remembrance of his mercy ) . the cantus firmus played by the trumpet is the melody of the traditional setting of luther 's german version of the magnificat , a ninth psalm tone variant . the strings , as the only other instruments , play repeated notes in every measure , moving one step down or up in the next . the voices imitate each other , also in gentle movement , the first a fifth up in a long upbeat , the second a fifth down one measure later , the third up again , another measure later , described as " scale themes " . in contrast , the second idea of the verse , recordatus , is on a " disjunct theme " . bach repeats the figure , with a downward quart on each syllable , in the et incarnatus est of his mass in b minor . it has been interpreted as a symbol of the cross , because a line drawn from the first to the fourth note crosses one from the second to the third . jones assumes that the " bassett " of the unison strings symbolizes the divine quality of mercy . 11 sicut locutus est ad patres ( according to the promise he made to our ancestors ) , the last line of the magnificat canticle , is written in stile antico , the old style of the musical " fathers " , as a strict fugue , one voice following the other as one generation follows the other . the theme has four distinctly different measures : the first repeated notes , the second flowing eighth notes , the third quarter notes in leaps , the fourth half notes leaping up a sixth . the countersubject has leaps down and up an octave in the second measure , the flowing eighth notes in the third measure . when the theme is developed the first time , four voices enter from bottom to top . in the second development , soprano i begins , followed by alto , tenor and bass . the movements ends with a more homophonic section in which the bass has the theme once more , while soprano i sings long suspended notes covering almost an octave down . hogwood sees bach alluding to his musical " forefathers " : " he portrays , in a very square fugue , exactly how square he thought the forefathers of german music were . four bars follows four bars , each voice coming in predictably and on time , all according to the rulebook , unimaginative and extremely dull ! " 12 the work is concluded by the doxology , gloria patri ( glory to the father ) , performed by the ensemble in two parts . the first part addresses the trinity . glory is given three times . bach shapes the movement again as a " crowd " scene . gloria is first presented as the major chord repeated three times , with a dotted note on the first syllable . in the second gloria , leading to patri , the voices sing the first syllable as an extended melisma in triplets , as another symbol of the trinity , beginning in upward moving lines , for three measures in the basses , half a measure less for each following voice . in the third gloria , leading to ( to the son ) , in a similar pattern soprano i begins , followed by alto , soprano ii , tenor and bass . in the fourth gloria , leading to et sancto ( and to the holy spirit ) , in again similar pattern the voices follow each other from top to bottom , ending in a long cadenza . the second part , sicut erat in principio ( as it was in the beginning ) repeats material from the beginning of the work but shortened , as a frame . jones points out that the " " of it was already used by monteverdi . jones remarks that bach observes a pattern of a bipartite structure of firstly contrasting homophonic blocks and " florid triplet rhythms " , secondly " a lighter , quicker conclusion in triple time " . he remarks that bach used a similar pattern again the following year in the sanctus for christmas 1724 which later was included as the sanctus of the mass in b minor . the four christmas interpolations the four hymns bach inserted in the magnificat for the christmas vespers had a tradition in leipzig . a setting by bach 's predecessor kuhnau in a christmas cantata is extant . they can be connected to scenic display of the christmas story , representing the annunciation to the shepherds , first by one angel ( a , b ) , then by the multitude ( c ) , finally a cradle song ( , d ) . in bach 's autograph , the four movements are grouped at the back of the volume . they are written in older musical styles than most of the magnificat movements . a vom himmel hoch , da komm ich her ( from heaven on high i come here ) is the first stanza of a hymn by martin luther , vom himmel hoch , da komm ich her , a paraphrase of the annunciation to the shepherds . it is set for four parts in e - flat major and alla - breve as an a capella motet , with the soprano singing the melody in long notes , the lower voices in imitation of the motifs . b freut euch und ( rejoice and celebrate ) is set for in b - flat major and common time . in polyphony on an independent basso continuo , with pairs of voices in parallels , it resembles a setting by sethus calvisius , a former thomaskantor . c gloria in excelsis deo ( glory to god in the highest ) is set for ssatb and violins in e - flat major , on the text from the christmas story , the annunciation to the shepherds ( luke 2 : 14 ) . it is written in " chordal fashion " , a style found in giacomo , johann ( also a thomaskantor ) and kuhnau , among others . d virga jesse floruit ( the branch of jesse flowers ) is an " operatic " duet for soprano and bass in f major in 12 / 8 time . the text is part of a longer hymn , beginning like virga jesse floruit . only the first 30 measures of this movement are extant . bach used the music again in 1725 on a different text in his christmas cantata unser mund sei voll lachens , bwv 110 , from which the missing part can be deducted . it was alfred dürr who noticed the similarity of the continuo parts of both pieces . reception history publication the earliest sources are autographs for the performances on 2 july and 25 december 1723 , including the christmas parts , kept by the staatsbibliothek zu berlin . the score of the e - flat major version of bach 's magnificat was first published by simrock in 1811 , edited by georg , however without the christmas hymns . these were published in 1862 , in the appendix of volume 11 / 1 of the bach - gesellschaft ausgabe , a publication that contained the d major version of the magnificat ( and not the e - flat major version ) . the neue bach ausgabe published the e - flat major version in 1955 , edited by alfred dürr . novello published an edition in 2000 , edited by neil jenkins . bärenreiter published a critical edition based on dürr 's 1955 edition again in 2014 / 15 . selected recordings bach composed the work for five soloists : two sopranos , alto , tenor and bass . the soloists are listed in the table in the order satb . for some recordings , only one soprano soloist is listed . recordings with orchestras on period instruments in historically informed performances are highlighted . the first recordings in the 1960s combined the version in d major ( bwv 243 ) with transposed christmas interpolations . the type of orchestra is shown for an ensemble with period instruments in historically informed performance by green background . the first recording by rilling , of the d major version with christmas interpolations , with a performance time of 40 : 06 , was reissued under the title christmas magnificats , and also issued in comparison to a recording of the magnificat in d by kurt thomas under the title compare . 's d major recording with christmas interpolations appeared on a cd titled j.s. bach : cantatas 142 , 65 & magnificat . the leipziger recording by the collegium vocale gent , conducted by philippe herreweghe , was reviewed as with " bracing but not rushed tempos , infectiously energetic and technically solid contributions from the chorus , and an intelligently paced flow from movement to movement . " the guardian wrote : " herreweghe 's accounts are typically thoughtful , not at all theatrical or dramatically driven , and that slightly laid - back approach takes the edge off the magnificat too , though the quality of the solo and choral singing , and the careful shaping of the orchestral lines are all exemplary . " in 2015 john butt and the dunedin consort released a recording of the e - flat major version in the context of a reconstructed christmas service as it might have been heard in leipzig in 1723 . the recording includes organ music and congregational hymn singing .