The four settings of the Magnificat featured here sit comfortably together. Two of them, by Bach’s predecessor at Leipzig, Johann Kuhnau, and by Bach himself, are ‘Leipzig-born’. The others, by Bach’s contemporary Zelenka, were composed for the court chapel at Dresden. What a pity that so much of Kuhnau’s sacred vocal music has been lost. Readers already acquainted with his cantata Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstern will not be surprised to learn that his Magnificat is full of colourfully effective gestures, textural contrasts and suppleness of form. These instrumentalists bring out the rhythmically buoyant character of the opening chorus wonderfully well. The movement is richly scored for three trumpets, drums, oboe, strings and continuo. As I have previously found with this talented ensemble of voices and instruments, there is an unusually highly developed sense of phrase contour and rhythm. Be it recitative, aria, chorus, continuo accompaniment or tutti, the component parts are all carefully and most beautifully shaped. Vocal declamation is fresh and incisive and solo contributions are of uniform excellence.
These remarks apply equally to the Zelenka and Bach settings. Zelenka’s pieces are much the shortest here, yet he does accommodate the entire canticle within a three- and four-movement scheme, each with an appended ‘Amen’ chorus. Both settings date from the mid-1720s, the D major work, with trumpets and drums, containing some vividly depictive word-painting.
The first version of Bach’s Magnificat is in E flat and was written for his first Christmas at Leipzig. Substantial revisions some ten years later included the removal of four interpolations specifically linked with the Christmas season, the substitution of flutes for recorders and a transposition from E flat to D major, thereby enabling the trumpets to pronounce with greater radiance. This revised version is the one most often used nowadays, and the one chosen for this recording. The performance is spirited and, by and large, excellent, though expressively a shade too cool for me; but where Kuhnau and Zelenka present few problems for the brass and woodwind, Bach, as nearly always, puts everyone on his and her metal, and chinks in this formidable armour are occasionally revealed. But the release is, nevertheless, a fine one, above all for the Kuhnau, which should delight many listeners.'