Dunedin Consort - J.S. Bach: Magnificat - Classical MPR

Discover five new Christmas recordings for 2015

John Butt and the Dunedin Consort are doing something unusual here: they're re-creating the context of Bach's first Christmas at Leipzig and laying it out for us to enjoy. The CD is arranged in the order that music would have appeared in a Lutheran Vespers (evening prayer) service. A Gabrieli choral motet opens the CD, followed by a Bach organ prelude and then Cantata 63. At that point in the service, there would have been a spoken portion, which is omitted on the CD; following the Cantata, an Organ Prelude & Fugue precede the Magnificat itself, which is then followed by congregational singing and another organ work. The effect is reverent and seamless. The musicianship of the singers and the players is flawless, and it's interesting to hear the works in their historical context.