Magnificat
Originating from the Latin word for “magnify” (although originating in the Greek New Testament), the Magnificat is the name given to the words of Mary in Luke’s Gospel, beginning “My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” According to the gospel, Mary, while pregnant with Jesus, visited her cousin Elisabeth, who was at the time pregnant with John the Baptist. In response to Elisabeth’s salutation Ave Maria, she spoke the words of the Magnificat.
In the Roman Rite the Magnificat is the canticle appointed to be sung at Vespers, together with a proper antiphon. The various Gregorian reciting tones or toni (given in the Liber Usualis) are chosen to agree with the mode of the antiphon, and their various terminations are likewise meant to dovetail with the opening of the antiphon's repetition; in general the numbering of the tones corresponds to the 8 modes (The 9th Tonus peregrinus is usually associated with mode I).
Anglican Evening Prayer (called “Evensong” when sung) was created by combining elements of Vespers and Compline. Composers writing in this tradition typically treat the Magnficat and the 2nd canticle Nunc dimittis (used only at Compline in the Roman rite) as a related pair.
Further discussion
Musical settings at CPDL
See Category:Evening Canticles for a list of all evening canticles on CPDL.
In Latin
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In English
(BCP translation unless otherwise stated)
In other languages
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Other settings possibly not included in the manual list above
- Johann Kaspar Aiblinger — 14 Vesperpsalmen
- Anonymous — Beatam me dicent
- Anonymous — Esurientes implevit bonis
- Anonymous — Et misericordia eius
- Benedict Anton Aufschnaiter — Vesper 1
- Richard Ayleward — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (Short Service)
- Johann Sebastian Bach — 185 Bach Chorales
- Edward Bairstow — Evening service in D Major
- Edward Bairstow — Evening service in G
- John Bertalot — Fauxbourdon
- Simon Biazeck — Evening Service for Men's Voices (Magnificat & Nunc dimittis)
- Simon Biazeck — Evening Service: Magnificat and Nunc dimittis
- Gilles Binchois — Magnificat primi toni
- Franz Bühler — Vesperae Solennes
- Johann Melchior Caesar — Magnificat B-moll
- Cristoforo Caresana — Magnificat a5 voci da capella
- Antonio Cifra — Magnificat (1629)
- Antonio Cifra — Magnificat
- Antonio Cifra — Magnificat a 4
- Horatio Colombano — Magnificat primi toni
- Horatio Colombano — Magnificat secundi toni
- Johann Crüger — Geistliche Kirchen-Melodien
- Colin Davey — Evening Service in B minor
- Henry Walford Davies — Evening Service in E flat
- Hugo Distler — Magnificat
- Francesco Durante — Magnificat con VV à cinque voci (a minor)
- George Dyson — Evening Service in D Major
- Francesco Feroci — Magnificat octavi toni
- Johann Kaspar Ferdinand Fischer — Magnificat brevius
- Johann Kaspar Ferdinand Fischer — Magnificat longius
- Robert Führer — Vesperpsalmen
- Mathieu Gascongne — Magnificat octavi toni
- Giovanni Gastoldi — Magnificat
- Charles Gounod — Magnificat in D
- Gregorian chant — Magnificat (Seventh tone)
- Johann Michael Haydn — Canticum Beatæ Mariæ Virginis (Magnificat) MH 294
- Johann Michael Haydn — Magnificat, MH 321-6
- Israel Holdroyd — Magnificat
- Georg August Holler — Vesperae Solemnes in D
- William Horwood — Magnificat
- Václav Emanuel Horák — Vesperae de Confessore
- Herbert Howells — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in G
- Pierre Phalèse II — Litaniae Septem Deiparae Virgini Musice Decantandae
- Heinrich Isaac — Alleluia Magnificat
- Ross Jallo — Crediton Service
- Ross Jallo — Short Evening Service
- Hugh Kellyk — Magnificat
- Thomas Knyght — Evening Service for Men
- Gierolamo Lambardi — Magnificat Sexti toni
- Tanmoy Laskar — Magnificat a 8
- Giovanni Legrenzi — Magnificat
- Giovanni Legrenzi — Magnificat a 2 chori con strumenti
- Caroline Lesemann-Elliott — Short Service
- Domenico Massenzio — Magnificat
- Giovanni Battista Mazzaferrata — Magnificat
- Jonathan Merrett — Magnificat and Nunc dimittis
- Cristoforo Montemayor — Magnificat a 8
- Edward Woodall Naylor — Evening Service in A
- Edward Woodall Naylor — Evening Service in D Major
- T. Tertius Noble — Evening Canticles in b minor
- Antonio Nola — Magnificat a 4 chori con violini
- José Maurício Nunes Garcia — Alleluia Confitemini Domino
- José Maurício Nunes Garcia — Magnificat for the Vespers of Our Lady
- José Maurício Nunes Garcia — Magnificat for the Vespers of St. Joseph
- Robert Page — Evening Service in B flat
- Robert Page — Evening Service in G
- Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina — Esurientes implevit bonis
- Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina — Magnificat primi toni a 8
- Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina — Magnificat primi toni a5
- Jacques Guislain Pamart — Magnificat
- Paolo Pandolfo — Magnificat
- Stefano Pasino — Magnificat in canon
- Francesco Passarini — Deposuit potentes de sede
- Malcolm Pearce — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (Childrey Service)
- Pascal Picard — Magnificat, Op. 34
- Pietro Pontio — Sicut erat in principio
- Michael Praetorius — Magnificat super Angelus ad pastores ait
- Tim Pratt — Evening Canticles in F
- Tim Pratt — Magnificat (St. Finian's)
- Davide Da Ros — Magnificat
- Heinrich Schütz — Magnificat anima mea Dominum, SWV 468
- Ludwig Senfl — Magnificat tertii toni
- Caleb Simper — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in D
- Konstantin Steingaden — Magnificat
- Charles Hylton Stewart — Evening Service in C Major
- Thomas Tallis — Evening Service in Latin
- Thomas Tomkins — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis from the Third Service
- Thomas Tomkins — Morning and Evening Canticles from the Fourth Service
- Ludovico da Viadana — Magnificat primi toni a quatro cori
- Thomas Weelkes — Sixth Service "in Verse for Two Counter-tenors"
- Ralph Vaughan Williams — Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in C
Texts used in settings and translations
![]() 1 Magnificat, anima mea, Dominum
Milanese composers (e.g. Cima) set the text according to the Ambrosian Rite, which has the following differences: |
![]()
1 My soul doth magnify the Lord. |
![]()
1 My soul doth magnify the Lord:2 and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. |
1 My soul doth magnify the Lord, |
- Most musical settings in English use the Book of Common Prayer text, including the minor doxology, Gloria Patri. The King James Version is provided for comparison.
![]() 1 Mon âme exalte le Seigneur. |
![]() 1 Mi alma canta la gandeza del Señor |
![]() 1 A minha alma glorifica o Senhor |
![]() 1 Meine Seel erhebt den Herren, |
![]() Modern Chinese |
Classical Chinese |
![]() 1 Mijn ziel prijst en looft de Heer, |
![]() 1 Min sjæl ophøjer Herren, |
![]() Μεγαλύνει ἡ ψυχή μου τὸν Κύριον |
Μεγαλύνει η ψυχή μου τον Κύριον |
![]() Величай, душе моя, честнейшую горних воинств, |
![]() Величит душа Моя Господа, |
![]()
1 Mi sjel høglovar Herren, |
Bokmål |
![]() Traditional |
Modern Text |
![]()
My soul and spirit, filled with joy, |
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