# i have a hard time getting into magnificat even if i like some religious stuff



## deprofundis

I love the motets and the great missa, but magnficat , seem to me like if a bishop was singning music for priest....not for the commun average dude unless your really very religious, this is my impression of the magnificat, tah im like when i see one on a cd, im like oh no not one of these again.

But i dont understand i love vocal music ancien classic music, but i can't get into the magnificats like
i would whit motets or missa, i dont understand this at all.

Maybe i dont like the fact that it's formated, let's explain what i meanmagnificats has always the same format and last about 10 minute most often you here before the piece magnificats sing, so eventually all the magnificats sound almost the same no mather if it lassus or de morales per se.

Am i fair in all of this, what are the magnificats that could change my mind?

:tiphat:


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## Guest

It is a big leap but a realy fine Magnificat is from the master of counterpoint J.S.Bach


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## Genoveva

The Magnificat ( a prayer to the BVM) forms the basis for lots of wonderful pieces of sacred choral music by many composers. It is used in the R.C. Church as well as in various Protestant churches for particular services, e.g. Vespers.

One of the most famous versions is by J S Bach. His BWV 243 Magnificat in D is very famous. I have several versions of this work. The one by John Eliot Gardiner/Monteverdi Choir is superb. Another by Karl Richter/Munich Bach Orchestra is also very good. Perhaps my favourite is by Philipe Pierlot/Ricercar Consort. 

Another favourite is the Magnificat in Montverdi's Vespers of 1610. It's the 13th and 14th motets in this work. Again the JEG version or another by Harry Christophers/The Sixteen would be superb, but you would get the whole work.

There are so many others that it's difficult to know where to begin, but others worth checking out are by C P E Bach (Wq 215 which is really sublime music), Biber, Byrd, Gabrielli, Lassus, Palestrina, Purcell, Tallis, Schutz, Taverner, Victoria, Scarlatti (Alessandro), Vivaldi, Zelenka. A later one by Schubert (D 486) is good. 

In more modern times there is one by Parry, Stanford, Howells which are worth checking out.


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## helenora

mmm.....all above mentioned are of a different style, even Monteverdi is quite different from what deprofundis is talking about. He namely listens to more Franco-Flemish composers of third and firth generations as I've noticed and that means it's late 15th and first half of 16th centuries (strongly emphasized Flemish origin or similar, not even Germanic)..... it's very distinctive language ( at least for me) and if we love and would recommend later stuff it doesn't change a lot, because musical language is very different indeed.


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## Ariasexta

I can hardly understand your reaction, the magnificats are always my sure loves, they are usually lengthy with powerful vocal forces. However, it is true that many magnificats are composed in strophic psalm or hymn style, a bit antiquated. The setting by JS Bach is also an example, even the famous section of Misericordia is a bit chromatic and strophic. However, never hurry appreciating baroque vocal music, baroque music is not all about catchy tunes, it has many bitter moments of dissonances and chromaticism and mannerism, like doing math sometimes, people need to follow the music with acquired listening experiences. I used 5 years to get to use to JS Bachs Missa in B minor, and 3 years to get use to Orlando di Lasso, it is normal for anyone even with great interest in early music to have some difficulty in attuning to the profound musical styles of the Renaissance and Baroque.


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## Ariasexta

Sorry, I can understand you now after thinking about myself avoiding JS Bachs missa several years ago! But now, I can take on almost all genres of vocal music from Medieval to Roccoco.


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## SixFootScowl

How about try a Gloria instead.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000050IU0


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