Exultavit Spiritus Meus

Description

Meditation on the Magnificat for ten instruments

by Paolo Bernardi

The composition is inspired by the Marian prayer of the Magnificat, in my opinion the most significant document of Mary’s awareness of the will of God. Some passages were chosen from it which, as indicated in the score, inspired the drawing

melodic and rhythmic that opens each section of the piece. From those lines and the underlying harmonies, each part then developed. To give continuity and conceptual coherence to the music, the various themes chase and overlap throughout the composition.

It was decided to treat the beginning of the third movement with the structure of the exposition of a four-voice fugue, to underline the meaning of the words chosen as inspiration: “He has overthrown the powerful from their thrones, he has raised up the humble”: the struggle of social affirmation seemed to us well rendered through the metaphor of the superposition of the countersubject struggling for its recognition.

In general, the language adopted has the characteristic of enhancing the melody with harmonies that gradually become more intelligible and fluid compared to the beginning, to better convey the strength of the prayer, which, even in the most difficult and indecipherable moments, helps us to understand what is best for us, if we entrust ourselves to Him.