Magnificat - Christmas in Leipzig Solomon's Knot

• Johann Schelle (1648 - 1701):
• 1Machet die Tore weit09:11
• Johann Kuhnau (1660 - 1722): Magnificat in C Major:
• 2Magnificat in C Major: I. Magnificat anima mea02:03
• 3Magnificat in C Major: II. Et exsultavit spiritus meus02:04
• 4Magnificat in C Major: III. Quia respexit humilitatem02:38
• 5Magnificat in C Major: IV. Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her00:55
• 6Magnificat in C Major: V. Quia fecit mihi magna01:37
• 7Magnificat in C Major: VI. Freut euch und jubiliert01:39
• 8Magnificat in C Major: VII. Et misericordia eius03:30
• 9Magnificat in C Major: VIII. Fecit potentiam00:59
• 10Magnificat in C Major: IX. Deposuit potentes00:34
• 11Magnificat in C Major: X. Esurientes implevit bonis01:13
• 12Magnificat in C Major: XI. Gloria in excelsis Deo01:06
• 13Magnificat in C Major: XII. Suscepit Israel02:19
• 14Magnificat in C Major: XIII. Sicut locutus est01:39
• 15Magnificat in C Major: XIV. Virga Jesse floruit02:01
• 16Magnificat in C Major: XV. Gloria Patri, gloria Filio01:39
• 17Magnificat in C Major: XVI. Sicut erat in principio01:37
• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Magnificat in E-Flat Major, BWV 243a:
• 18Magnificat in E-Flat Major, BWV 243a: I. Magnificat anima mea02:50
• 19Magnificat in E-Flat Major, BWV 243a: II. Et exsultavit02:21
• 20Magnificat in E-Flat Major, BWV 243a: III. Vom Himmel hoch01:34
• 21Magnificat in E-Flat Major, BWV 243a: IV. Quia respexit04:12
• 22Magnificat in E-Flat Major, BWV 243a: V. Quia fecit mihi magna02:11
• 23Magnificat in E-Flat Major, BWV 243a: V. Freut euch und jubiliert01:21
• 24Magnificat in E-Flat Major, BWV 243a: VII. Et misericordia eius03:26
• 25Magnificat in E-Flat Major, BWV 243a: VIII. Fecit potentiam01:44
• 26Magnificat in E-Flat Major, BWV 243a: IX. Gloria in excelsis Deo01:00
• 27Magnificat in E-Flat Major, BWV 243a: X. Deposuit potentes01:49
• 28Magnificat in E-Flat Major, BWV 243a: XI. Esurientes implevit bonis02:35
• 29Magnificat in E-Flat Major, BWV 243a: XII. Virga Jesse floruit03:09
• 30Magnificat in E-Flat Major, BWV 243a: XIII. Suscepit Israel01:55
• 31Magnificat in E-Flat Major, BWV 243a: XIV. Sicut locutus est01:38
• 32Magnificat in E-Flat Major, BWV 243a: XV. Gloria Patri02:02
• Total Runtime01:10:31

Info for Magnificat - Christmas in Leipzig

Opening with Schelle’s sacred concerto Machet die Tore weit, followed by Kuhnau’s Magnificat which provided Bach with the blueprint for his 1723 version in Eb (including Christmas lauds), the album traces the connection between the three ‘Johanns’ who were consecutive cantors at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig through their festive music for the Advent and Christmas period.

Solomon's Knot
Jonathan Sells, conductor

Solomon's Knot
Determined to communicate the full power of 17th- and 18th-century music as directly as possible, the collective Solomon’s Knot was founded in London in 2008. Led by artistic director Jonathan Sells, the group performs without a conductor, the singers by heart.

What began a decade ago as a promise never to lose the joy of performing, to blow the dust off early music and break down the barriers of classical music has evolved into Solomon’s Knot’s reputation today: direct communication, adventurous programming and bold trademark performances from memory.

Our flexible approach enables us to explore a wide range of repertoire, especially music written before 1800, from the madrigals of Gesualdo to JS Bach’s Mass in B minor with 10 singers and 20 instrumentalists, or the rediscovery of the anonymous opera Lospedale' (ca. 1650), available on DVD.

By exploring new ways of presenting ancient music to ‘modern’ ears, eyes and minds, we work closely together with directors, composers, choreographers, visual artists, and other ensembles. From 2013-2017 Solomon’s Knot was part of Snape Malting’s inaugural Open Space development scheme. Recent collaborations include projects with Spira mirabilis, Sven Werner, James Hurley, Tim Caroll, Federay Holmes and Les Passions de l’Ame.

We are grateful to Sir John Eliot Gardiner for his invitations to the Bachfest Leipzig in 2016 and his Barbican Bach Weekend in 2018. We have also appeared at the Aldeburgh Festival, Händel-Festspiele Halle, Newbury Spring Festival, Thüringer Bachwochen, Regensburger Tage Alter Musik, Spitalfields Music Winter Festival, London Handel Festival, and St John’s Smith Square Christmas Festival.

Solomon’s Knot finished 2018 with the revival of our project ‘Christmas in Leipzig' in Nottingham and London’s Milton Court, recorded live and released on Sony Classical in 2019. “Time and again zig-zagging choruses, lightly accompanied, sprang into fire almost as if by spontaneous combustion. Most exciting.” The Times *****

Concerts in 2019 included our Wigmore Hall debut with the second version of JS Bach’s Johannes-Passion, returns to the Thüringer Bachwochen, Leipzig Bachfest, and St George’s Bristol, a residency at the Ryedale Festival, and our first appearance at the Bachwochen in Thun (Switzerland).

SKonnect, Solomon’s Knot’s education strategy, aims to take the excitement of so-called ‘early’ music into classrooms and workshops around the UK and further afield. Recently, schools in Nottingham and London have benefitted from hearing musicians perform for them live and explain the wonders of this colourful and exhilarating repertoire.

Booklet for Magnificat - Christmas in Leipzig