Recording from 08. Apr 2022

Ryan Wigglesworth: Magnificat

I have always found the Magnificat, from the Gospel of Luke, to be one of the most moving lyric outpourings in all literature. Mary’s canticle is both a personal testimony and an extraordinary panoramic taking in the entirety of the world’s past and future.

My setting of the Latin text at several points pays specific homage to two great ancestors – Monteverdi’s Vespers and Bach’s Magnificat. Where it differs from either is in pitting Mary’s single voice (in the form of a solo soprano) against the full forces of choir and orchestra.

Ryan Wigglesworth