J. S. Bach: Weihnachts-Magnificat - G. F. Handel: Utrecht Te Deum

The opening bars to Bach’s Magnificat are easily among the composer’s most exultant music—their lilting triple meter combines majestically with a rich orchestration of abundant woodwind and strings, drums, plus a crowning pair of trumpets that adds a glorious top-layer sheen to the texture. The work exists in two forms, and although the second version, in D major, is the one most commonly performed and recorded today, this Christmas version, featuring four seasonal interludes (effectively choral interludes based on festive hymns), was Bach’s original conception. This one is scored in E-flat, that extra semitone over D helping the trumpets zing with even more ceremonial sparkle. And sparkle they do, in a first movement of litheness and onward propulsion that surely counts among the finest ever recorded. Throughout the remainder of the Magnificat, conductor Justin Doyle steers remarkably responsive choral and orchestral forces that sharply define Bach’s intricate counterpoint without ever sacrificing dynamic and dramatic expression. “Omnes generationes” and “Fecit potentiam” are both remarkable in their well-oiled ensemble work and clarity. Vocal soloists are all excellent. Away from Christmas, but equally celebratory, is Handel’s Te Deum “for the Peace of Utrecht”, commissioned for a service of thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Utrecht Treaties of 1713 had brought peace to Europe following the decade-long Wars of the Spanish Succession, and with them, favourable conditions for Britain. Handel’s 10-movement setting was his first English-language liturgical work, and is beautifully performed here, the central movement “The glorious company of the apostles” a feast of top-flight orchestral, choral, and vocal brilliance.