Johann Sebastian Bach’s Magnificat BWV 243 was composed in its first form in E flat, right at the beginning of Bach’s period in Leipzig, possibly for the Visitation of Mary on July 2, 1723. Its performance on Christmas Day 1723 is well documented. Following a Leipzig tradition, Bach wrote four extra Christmas movements for this occasion.

Only in the 1730s did Bach arrange the Magnificat into the well-known version in D; the orchestration was slightly altered, particularly improving the considerable practical performance problems encountered in the E flat major version. Our critical Carus edition by Bach expert Dr. Ulrich Leisinger contains the version of the Magnificat in D, based on Bach’s autograph score. The vocal score features an appendix containing the extra movements for Christmas performances; the score and parts for these movements can also be purchased separately (Carus 31.243/50).

Scoring: Soli SSATB, Coro SSATB, 2 Fl, 2 Ob, 3 Tr, Timp, 2 Vl, Va, Bc

Language: Latin

Duration: 27 min

Key: D major