Antonio Caldara / Johann Sebastian Bach (arr.) Magnificat

Contemporary accounts and the surviving remnants of his music library confirm the value that Johann Sebastian Bach placed on good compositions by other masters. Yet the performance copies he prepared also show that Bach regularly made creative changes to the scores. Often, pieces simply had to be adapted to the specific local conditions – standard practice at the time.

Bach’s interest in the work of his contemporary Antonio Caldara is well known, and here too he didn’t hesitate to get to work with his quill. This new Carus edition of Caldara’s splendid Magnificat combines both versions in a single volume for the first time: the original by the Viennese court composer and Bach’s version, including his arrangement of the movement “Suscepit Israel,” cataloged as BWV 1082.

Written as part of Caldara’s official duties in Vienna, the Magnificat captivates with grand, festive orchestration. In four beautifully structured movements, Caldara displays his compositional mastery in both the modern concertante style and the traditional stile antico. Around 1740/42, Bach made his own copy of the Magnificat. His most significant intervention occurs in the “Suscepit Israel,” where he added two obbligato violin parts and enriched the contrapuntal texture with masterfully woven suspensions.

This modern Urtext edition by Wolfgang Hochstein brings both versions to life for today’s performers. Through the use of clear diacritical markings, the variances in the musical text are clearly visible, giving a fascinating insight into Bach’s working methods.