In the last decade of his life, Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) served as a church musician in his home city of Nuremberg. He was incredibly prolific, even by the standards of that time. The Magnificat, the song of praise of the Virgin Mary to the greatness of the Lord, who chose her to be the mother of the Saviour – he set this text from the Gospel of Luke alone almost a dozen times for the Protestant vesper worship service. He did so with awe-inspiring creativity and imagination and a feel for instrumental colours that still has an immediate effect today. As in the first volume of this series, we encounter a man whose life is full and robust and who in no way sees the world as a vale of tears. The Himlische Cantorey under its founder, director and tenor Jan Kobow does justice to its heavenly name.