Customer Reviews

C.P.E Bach: Magnificat / J.S. Bach: Magnificat

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Washington Bach Consort's new recording of C.P.E.Bach's Magnificat is here teamed with the more widely recorded and available Magnificat of his father, J. S. Bach. The performance is outstanding with the chorus full but not overpowering, the soloists clear and moving and the orchestra of original intruments is impressive. Under Director Reilly Lewis' skilled direction this is a performance of the highest order. I live in the Washington, D.C. area and have been fortunate enough to have heard the WBC in performance and this record lives up to the living thing. I recommend the CD whole heartedly and the price is most reasonable.

I'll admit I let this CD pass through one ear & out the other a few times before I grabbed on to the rewards given a more intent listening. C.P.E. composes with a definite bit of tension in his musical line, tremendous deep-seated energy abounds. And this is really a terrific performance in vocal, instrumental & ensemble aspects. This piece absolutely swings - & you can't loose, even if CPE isn't for you, well, it's followed by an equally fine rendition of JS Bach's same-titled work. Interesting, although overall it's technically a good recording, there is indeed a little peculiar combination of a "spacey" sound yet a low recorded volume level. The main point is, get to know the CPE Bach Magnificat, top notch & under-appreciated.

Whenever the Magnificat comes up in classical music, it's almost always in reference to Johann Sebastian Bach's setting of the Catholic Canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Many composers before and after Bach have set the Magnificat, but apart from some of the earliest settings (Palestrina, di Lasso, Morales), few have been recorded.

So, this disc, which pairs the more substantial (nearly half as long again) rendering of the Magnificat by Johann Sebastian's eldest son Carl Philipp Emanuel with his own should be a most welcome addition to any collection. In fact, if you don't have a recording of either Magnificat, this may be the only one you need.

On first hearing, CPE's work had me rapt. I was floored by the festive sweep of the opening chorus. What an exciting, joyous noise coming from the pen of Bach's oldest son, who, while certainly an interesting composer, never struck me as capable of writing something so intense, so capable of pushing the right emotional buttons.

The rest of the work did not disappoint me. Having only recently become familiar with Johann Sebastian's setting via another recording, I more or less expected his son's work to be a "me too" effort. When I was finished listening, however, I was left wondering why I didn't know that CPE had set the Magnificat (heck, I knew that Beethoven had contemplated doing the same during his last great burst of productivity) and, more curiously, why it hadn't been more frequently recorded.

This recording would be worth having for Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Magnificat alone. Fortunately, his father's more famous setting receives an equally fine performance, making the entire CD a worthwhile production.

As a couple of other reviewers have noted, the sound is a bit reverberant (the terms 'echo-y' and 'spacey' were employed), courtesy of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C.

Finally, unless I'm mistaken, Ted Libbey, credited with the "Editorial Review" above, is also the author of this disc's program notes.

I discovered C.P.E. Bach's Magnificat in D back in the eighties in a University library (you could not find a recording of it for sale anywhere) and I just fell in love with it. The dramatic opening chorus is just stunning in it's power. I also love the arias, especially the "Deposuit" duet. Tying together his opening chorus with a dramatic repeat in the "Gloria patri, gloria filio, gloria spiritui sancto" followed by a stately fugue of "sicut erat" this really is a masterpiece in my opinion.

C.P.E. Bach is indeed an acquired taste for many people, but the Magnificat has a universal appeal that sets it apart. Also check out C.P.E. Bach's "Die Auferstehung und himmelfahrt jesu" from his more mature period. Composed a year before his father died, Emmanuel's magnificat naturally and stylistically stands beside his father's wonderful magnificat. However, the later vocal works from his Hamburg period stand more naturally besides Haydn and even Beethoven. Even so, Emmanuel's magnificat shows many characteristics of pre-classical rather than baroque. The "sicut erat" is the only purely polyphonic piece.

I love J.S. Bach's magnificat as well. However, this CD is worth it for Emmanuel Bach's magnificat. Very good performance by all the soloists and the orchestra does an excellent job as well.

This is a fine recording by a wonderful group. The CPE Bach Magnificat is energetic and exciting, probably the best recording of this interesting work currently available. The sound is a bit echoy but I adjusted. A recommended recording.

I bought this CD on Amazon's recommendation, as part of their "Get Started in Classical" area. It's a full CD of choral work, lots of singing and very little purely instrumental work. I chose Bach because I associate him with a very fluid and relaxing style; this was just jarring, 60 minutes of operatic style "classical." You have been warned.