Magnificat

ASSOCIATE ARTISTS & ENSEMBLE

"My soul magnifies the Lord ": it is with these words that the Virgin Mary greets the annunciation of her future conception. For many composers, this canticle full of elation and exaltation served as a particularly inspiring moment of the liturgy.

Of all the Magnificats, Bach’s is by far the most famous, a luxuriant celebration of joy and fervour that makes it, without doubt, the most seductive of his religious works. Along with this festive score, the conductor and ensemble propose two pieces from a composer of the previous generation. Having spent his entire musical career in his native city of Bologna, Giovanni Paolo Colonna left a body of work essentially devoted to sacred music.

The B minor mass testifies to the richness of invention and expression of a composer whose posthumous reputation would radiate across the greater part of Europe throughout the 18th century.