Bach’s ‘Magnificat in D.’--The first performance of this great work (called the ‘Great Magnificat’) was given on Christmas, 1723, at the evening service in the Thomas Church at Leipzig. It is characterized by powerful choruses which are elaborated with all of Bach’s technical resources. It calls for a five-part chorus with accompaniment of organ and orchestra and, in its feeling of largeness, foreshadows the future work of this wonderful genius. The _Stabat Mater_ of Pergolesi (1710-1736) is supposed to have been written at Pozzuoli, where he went in 1736 because of ill health, and at the request of the Brotherhood of Saint Luigi de Palazzo to replace the work of A. Scarlatti which had been performed there regularly on Good Friday. Some writers, however, think it was written much earlier, in fact, soon after leaving the Conservatory at Naples in 1729. The date 1736, however, seems the more authentic and it is likely that he wrote it while living in the monastery at Pozzuoli, where, however, he did not devote himself by any means wholly to sacred writing, but to his favorite _opera buffa_ as well. While the work is not rich in large ideas--rather is it made up of many short though melodious themes which, like all of Pergolesi’s, border on the sentimental--it has always held a high place in Italy. Handel’s Te Deums.--The _Utrecht Te Deum_, written in 1712 to celebrate the signing of the peace of Utrecht, was avowedly composed in the same form as Purcell’s, though Handel’s work was characterized by greater brilliancy, especially in the orchestral coloring. The work antagonized his patron, the Grand Duke of Hanover, whose affairs were by no means furthered by the council of Utrecht, and it therefore recalls a rather dark hour in Handel’s history. The _Dettingen Te Deum_, on the contrary, brought outwardly more gratifying results. The unexpected victory of George II over the French at Dettingen brought great joy and gratitude to the English people and Handel, who then was at the Chapel Royal, was requested to write a Te Deum for the thanksgiving service to be held Nov. 27, 1743, in St. James’s Chapel. It was begun July 17th and completed some time before the 30th of that month. The work is rated as one of the greatest by this composer and the joy and thanksgiving of the whole nation is depicted in a style that is more grandioso, but less rich in contrapuntal resources, than the _Utrecht Te Deum_. He achieved his massive effects, not through any theatrical means, but by combining the note of triumph and exultant joy with a measured dignity, the effect of which is most compelling. The fanfare of trumpets and drums which ushers in the opening chorus has never been surpassed in its magnificence for the expression of thanksgiving.