‘Suscepit Israel’ from 'Magnificat' (BWV 243) by J.S. Bach.

The Magnificat is the first large choral work that Bach composed after his appointment in Leipzig in the spring of 1723. It is an ‘old-fashioned’ but delightful five-voiced work that uses Latin, just like the other rarity among Bach’s works, the Mass in B minor. The text comes from the Gospel of Luke, and is about the visit made by Mary to her cousin Elisabeth, who was also pregnant. She welcomed Mary with the words: ‘Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!’ Mary answered, saying: ‘My soul doth magnify the Lord (Magnificat anima mea Dominum), and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my saviour, for he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden’. The religious feast day associated with this event, the Feast of the Visitation, was held in Bach’s day on 2 July, although nowadays it is celebrated on 31 May. Bach may have planned the Magnificat to have been sung at this first important religious feast day after his appointment. But as his aim of composing a new cantata for each Sunday turned out to be rather a high one, he might have postponed the completion of the Magnificat until the next feast day, Christmas 1723. In any case, that was when it was first performed, supplemented by a few suitable hymns in German.

Performed by the Netherlands Bach Society conducted by Jos van Veldhoven.
Soloists: Julia Doyle (Soprano), Hana Blažíková (Soprano) and Maarten Engeltjes (Alto).

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