The Listener, 4 July 1968

The Magnificat, from time immemorial the central canticle of Vespers in the Catholic Church, has a formidable musical ancestry. The original plainsong, one of the most ancient melodies, is still in use, and on it are based many of the earliest settings of the text. These generally use the plainsong tune as it stands, in verses alternating with a faux bourdon or descant version, written by the composer. They are thus on the way to becoming independent compositions, but are still firmly tied to the liturgy, and to the traditional music of the Church. More evolved versions of this type are those of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, which include examples by Palestrina, Monteverdi and Victoria. Later come the entirely original works (in the sense of having no connection with plainsong) by innumerable composers; among these looms the mighty figure of J. S. Bach. Then, in this country, we have the vast number of settings of the Anglican version, mostly for choir and organ, designed to be sung as part of the service of Evensong. It might be thought that a composer today would do well to avoid a text that has been so frequently set, but when the suggestion was made to me that I should use it for the opening concert of this year's City of London Festival, in which the choirs of St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral were to combine with the London Symphony Orchestra, its suitability to the occasion seemed compelling.