Dunedin Consort - J.S. Bach: Magnificat - Financial Times

For his first Christmas Day service in Leipzig, in 1723, Bach presented himself and his music in style.

John Butt, the pioneering director of Scotland's Dunedin Consort, offers his own reconstruction of the occasion, embracing the lavish Christmas cantata Christen, ätzet diesen Tag, sundry organ preludes, and the uplifting Magnificat in its unfamiliar original version (in E flat, minor textual differences).

It is a brilliant deal: 21st-century listeners get all of Bach's glorious music associated with December 25 1723, performed with zest and imagination, without having to sit through the sermon.