33x Magnification
The Magnificat, or Song of Mary, has been set by countless composers. This is partly because this canticle is used in the daily office – fixed prayers said or sung throughout the day. It is also because the text is so potent and stirring – the song of a humble girl whom God had chosen for things beyond her imagination.
One of my favorites has to be Giovanni Gabrieli‘s Magnificat a 33. That is, for 33 musicians – 33 individual independent parts. These musicians were grouped into “choirs” and placed around St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, where Gabrieli was principal organist and composer. The effect was the various phrases of the text would come to you from different locations, with different musical colors. Sadly, a stereo recording loses this grand effect; to hear it in that massive cathedral must have been magnificent!
My vast dearth of musical appreciation is being filled. While I’ve heard of Gabrieli, I’ve not to my knowledge heard any of his music. This work is magnificent – no pun intended. I’ll now listen to some more: the YouTube suggestions apropos of this piece.
His most famous piece is “In Ecclesiis” – one of my all-time favorite pieces of music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE-r–lxDns
The very thing I listened to just before bed last night!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5VoKAoj8AE
And now, listening to the cut you mentioned above, which I see is in the same set as the Magnificat, I notice especially the section beginning with 4:55 and going to the prolonged ending. Sublime!
My first visit to San Marco I fantasized of Gabrieli. Wonderful place and music.
I recently heard a question something like “Will humankind survive itself?”* The very fact that we have the wherewithal to erect a structure like St Marcos, to decorate it, and fill it with the glorious strains of Gabrieli’s music gives me hope. We have enough sense to foster our inner lights sufficiently to hold the forces of darkness at bay.
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