Gabriel's Appearance to Mary: Song #8 "Magnficat"

 Gabriel's Appearance to Mary

Song #8: Magnificat

Some of you won't like this song. It's from a modern opera/oratorio written just 20 years ago. It doesn't have a key signature, it changes meter constantly, and it employs dissonance liberally. This unpredictability in music can feel jarring to people who are used to listening to structured music based on centuries of traditional music theory. It's not going to be everyone's favorite cup of tea, but I hope you'll read my story first before you judge it. This song helped me realize something I don't think I would have fully processed if I hadn't found it through music, and for that reason it will always hold a special place in my heart.

As I was organizing my songs from all 3 years of singing Nativity festivals, I realized I didn't have any songs about Mary before she bore Jesus. I immediately thought of the song I posted yesterday, "The Angel Gabriel," but I'd hoped to have at least one more. Immediately I remembered a song I'd attempted to learn 10 years earlier. I was preparing for an audition for an opera company that wanted an aria from an opera written after 1995. I had a book of modern opera arias, but most were written before 1995. This was the first song in the book, and it had a date of 2001 listed on it. I started working on it but quickly realized it was brutally difficult. I learn music well, but this has been one of the hardest pieces of music I've ever worked on in my life. In the end I concluded I couldn't learn it on my own. I needed to find a vocal coach to help me figure it out. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get that scheduled in time and ultimately chose to put the song away and not do the audition.

I pulled the song back out of my library a few weeks ago and once again realized just how difficult it was. Fortunately the book came with a CD accompaniment, but listening to the piano only confused me that much more. It typically stresses the offbeats while the vocal line stresses the downbeats, which makes it feel like you're fighting the piano rather than being accompanied by it. I nearly put the song away again, but I'd also begun pondering the words of the text by then. These weren't words I'd remembered Mary saying. I knew she'd said the first part of it, but everything else sounded more like something you'd find in the book of Isaiah. I operned up the Bible to the first chapter of Luke and was astonished to discover that Mary had indeed said every single one of those words. I did a little more research and learned that in some religious traditions these verses are referred to as the Magnificat, Mary's psalm, or Mary's song.

This discovery enlightened me to a whole new view of Mary. I'd always thought of Mary as a tender, caring mother. I'd never thought of her as a scriptural scholar, yet here it was made abundantly clear to me that Mary was intimately familiar with Jewish teachings and deeply devoted to the Lord and His prophecies. I realized I'd never given her the credit she deserved. This new understanding was very significant to me. I wanted to know why I hadn't heard something so important set to music more often. I looked up whatever other Magnificat songs I could find. Everything I found was either in Latin or modern English and/or just used the first part of the text. This song was the only one I could find with the full text of the Magnificat in King James English (though admittedly there are a few minor word changes to fit with the music). Since that is the language I read the Bible in, it's also what means the most to me when I hear it sung (ex. "The Messiah").

From that moment on I knew I needed to learn this song. I felt obligated to sing Mary's words, to share this aspect of her character, and to spread her message. Though it could certainly still benefit from the help of a skilled vocal coach, I soon noticed that learning it was becoming easier for me. I was finally finding myself in sync with it. 

It's been said that God speaks to us through our language. This is true, but it means more than simply communicating with us through our native tongue. God also speaks to us through whichever means can make the deepest impression within our hearts. In this case, God chose to speak to me through music. These verses were in the Bible this whole time. I could have read them anytime. I probably did read them several times over my 38 years of life, but their significance never fully registered with me until I had sung them, until I had to go to great lengths to express them the way the composer intended. That was how God finally got through to me. 

Luke 1:46-55 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed, For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever.