Musical settings of the Magnificat

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I may have asked this question before, but I will ask it again in hopes of new comments. At two parishes before, I have heard a really beautiful setting of the Magnificat (Song of Mary). It’s a choral arrangement I believe, and I think it’s a very old setting. I believe that it’s verbatim in it’s usage and not a paraphrase of the actual prayer. I don’t know the name of the composer nor have any clue as to who published it, but I was wondering if any of you might have the slightest inkling of what I am talking about. I know that it’s a choral arrangement because when I was in the choir for a short period of time, we did it for Mother’s Day one year and it was broken into SATB, and I fell in love with it, but I never kept the music. Any ideas from what you might have heard before or used in your parish?
 
giamusic.com/search_details.cfm?title_id=8247

If you go down and click the speaker in front of “Magnificat”, It sounds like the one I am talking about. Not the beginning part, but the part that starts with “My soul…”

This is driving me nuts! I’ll sit here and listen to every one until I find out what is the right one.
 
I think this might be your composer. I pulled it from the top of your linked page. May God bless you.

by Andre Gouzes OP

This music was conceived and composed by André Gouzes, OP, a Dominican priest who has turned the twelfth-century Cistercian abbey of Sylvanes into a modern liturgical and cultural center in the south of France. Borrowing from the unaccompanied four-part singing style of the Eastern rite churches, this music is a premier example of true ritual music. When led by a choir, or a group of competent singers, the predictable harmonic progressions of Fr. Gouzes’ music make it readily accessible to the assembly—especially after a brief learning period. This music truly enables the Hours and the Mass to be sung in the fullest sense of the world. A Time of Grace was recorded at the Abbey of Sylvanes by the Choir of Kings College, London.
 
jeannetherese said:
I think this might be your composer. I pulled it from the top of your linked page. May God bless you.

by Andre Gouzes OP

This music was conceived and composed by André Gouzes, OP, a Dominican priest who has turned the twelfth-century Cistercian abbey of Sylvanes into a modern liturgical and cultural center in the south of France. Borrowing from the unaccompanied four-part singing style of the Eastern rite churches, this music is a premier example of true ritual music. When led by a choir, or a group of competent singers, the predictable harmonic progressions of Fr. Gouzes’ music make it readily accessible to the assembly—especially after a brief learning period. This music truly enables the Hours and the Mass to be sung in the fullest sense of the world. A Time of Grace was recorded at the Abbey of Sylvanes by the Choir of Kings College, London.
Click to expand...
It sounds a lot like the one I am talking about, but I know that it’s not the same version. Thanks for your help, though!
 
You might pm your link and request to JButky at this forum.
He has a deeper background than I and if he does not have the answer to your question, might be able to offer some search tips. The best of luck to you.👍
 
Hi CatholicZ09:
Many blessings to you for the link to the website with Father Gouzes’ recordings. The settings for each prayer are so appropriate and melodies are moving. As an aficionado of all liturgical music, both East and West, I will be putting his album on my iPod! thanks again.
 
I am assuming it is English rather than Latin? One of my faves is the setting by Charles Stanford in C.
 
I love Bach’s Magnificat, but I’ve never heard an English one.
 
I was able to get into our choir room and look into the music files. I found the exact hymn. It is the Song of Mary by William Crotch, edited by Robert Wetzler. It was published by the Art Masters Studios Inc. in Minneapolis, MN.

Here’s what the music sounds like if any of you are interested in hearing it:

youtube.com/watch?v=9YZsX9LvBn8

The music begins at 5:10. It’s not the same piece I was talking about, but the music is the same. I am so happy I found it! It’s such a beautiful piece! Has anyone else used it/heard of it?
 
Thanks, CatholicZ09, for posting the link. What a remarkable setting and sound. I liked the photo of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, visiting the Abbey with (I think) the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. Thanks again.
 
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