It was composed in 1723 and is in twelve movements, scored for five vocal parts (two sopranos, alto, tenor and bass) and a Baroque orchestra of trumpets, timpani, oboes, strings and basso continuo including bassoon.

Bach composed the Magnificat in 1723, his first year as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, music director of the main Lutheran churches in the city.

[5] In April he was accepted for the post, which he assumed on the first Sunday after Trinity, presenting a new cantata in 14 movement, Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75, on 30 May.

In Leipzig, a Latin Magnificat was sung on the high holidays (Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, then performed on two of the three days of celebration) and on the three Marian feasts Annunciation, Visitation and Purification.

He writes that the "new Thomaskantor was obviously intending to impress his new employer and the congregation", which makes even more sense at the beginning of Bach's tenure.

[10] Bach used as a cantus firmus in movement 10 the chant associated with Luther's German version of the Magnificat canticle, "Meine Seele erhebt den Herren".

A year later Bach composed for the feast of the Visitation the chorale cantata Meine Seel erhebt den Herren, BWV 10, based on the German Magnificat.

The instruments of the Baroque orchestra are listed in the first publication by Simrock in 1811 as "due violini, due oboe, tre trombi, tamburi, basson, viola e basso continuo",[18] i.e. two violins, two oboes, three trumpets (in E-flat), timpani (E-flat and B-flat), bassoon, viola and basso continuo.

The movements for one to three solo voices are accompanied by an obbligato instrument or only strings or even only continuo, as in Bach's church cantatas.

The opening movement Magnificat anima mea (My soul magnifies the Lord)[24] is performed by all voices and all instruments except the recorders.

Et exultavit spiritus meus (And my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour)[24] is an aria, as an image of personal celebration,[25] sung by soprano II, accompanied by the strings.

[26] Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est (For the Mighty One has done great things for me)[24] is an aria sung by the bass, accompanied only by the continuo.

[27] Hogwood compares the music to the pastoral sinfonia beginning Part II of Bach's Christmas Oratorio, "creating a romantic, soft-edged, almost comforting sound".

[25] Jones remarks that timentibus eum" (who fear him) is "full of pathos and built over a partly chromatic, quasi-ostinato bass", while the "divine quality of mercy is expressed in beatific parallel thirds of the violins in the ritornello".

[25] The tenor begins the coloraturas of four measures, followed by alto, SII, bass and SI, leading to the climax of the movement, two homophonic calls.

[21] The conclusion, mente cordis sui (in the thoughts of their hearts),[24] is marked Adagio and illustrates the text in pompous long chords, with accents in the trumpets.

The second motif, later sung on "potentes", begins with an upbeat of three 16th, followed by a rhythmic pattern which expands both the lowest as the highest note, while the continuo moves in steady steps down.

After a shorter ritornello, the tenor sings the complete text again, the first part in a slightly modified version, but the exaltation considerably expanded.

[24] The cantus firmus played by the trumpet is the melody of the traditional setting of Luther's German version of the Magnificat, a ninth psalm tone variant.

The movements ends with a more homophonic section in which the bass has the theme once more, while soprano I sings long suspended notes covering almost an octave down.

In the fourth Gloria, leading to et Spiritui sancto (and to the Holy Spirit),[24] in again similar pattern the voices follow each other from top to bottom, ending in a long cadenza.

[20] Jones remarks that Bach observes a pattern of a bipartite structure of firstly contrasting homophonic blocks and "florid triplet rhythms", secondly "a lighter, quicker conclusion in triple time".

[23][14] They can be connected to scenic display of the Christmas story, representing the annunciation to the shepherds, first by one angel (A, B), then by the multitude (C), finally a cradle song (Kindleinwiegen, D).

It is set for four parts in E-flat major and alla-breve as an a cappella motet, with the soprano singing the melody in long notes, the lower voices in imitation of the motifs.

In polyphony on an independent basso continuo, with pairs of voices in parallels, it resembles a setting by Sethus Calvisius, a former Thomaskantor.

[31] Gloria in excelsis Deo (Glory to God in the highest)[24] is set for SSATB and violins in E-flat major, on the text from the Christmas story, the Annunciation to the Shepherds (Luke 2:14).

[17][14] Bach used the music again in 1725 on a different text in his Christmas cantata Unser Mund sei voll Lachens, BWV 110, from which the missing part can be deducted.

[1][16] The score of the E-flat major version of Bach's Magnificat was first published by Simrock in 1811, edited by Georg Pölchau, however without the Christmas hymns.

"[46] The Guardian wrote: "Herreweghe's accounts are typically thoughtful, not at all theatrical or dramatically driven, and that slightly laid-back approach takes the edge off the Magnificat too, though the quality of the solo and choral singing, and the careful shaping of the orchestral lines are all exemplary.

"[47] In 2015 John Butt and the Dunedin Consort released a recording of the E-flat major version in the context of a reconstructed Christmas service as it might have been heard in Leipzig in 1723.