Magnificat

Born in Prague as “Jan Šoltys,” Jan Sixt z Lerchenfelsu attended St. Bartholomew boarding school in 1574, and by 1584 appears in records as puer musicus (singer) at the court of Rudolf II (Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia). After attending the University of Prague, he traveled east to the city of Olomouc, where in 1594 he served as a Jesuit church choir administrator and continued his studies in philosophy. He was ordained a priest in 1598, and after returning to Prague in 1600, he became the imperial court chaplain as well as a member of the court band. He was knighted in 1601 and soon thereafter became archdeacon at the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew in Plzeň (Pilsen). Active in helping execute the archbishop of Prague’s re-Catholicization plans for the country, Sixt was ceremoniously installed as a canon at Prague’s St. Vitus Cathedral on August 12, 1605.

In addition to being a skilled translator of Latin works into Czech (including monophonic liturgical songs), Sixt apparently found favor with both royal figures and religious colleagues as a popular preacher. In 1617 he was appointed the 50th provost of Litoměřice, and in that Bohemian city worked for a number of years to establish Jesuit-based institutions–and even a private printing house (one of only a few in the country). In addition to publishing religious literature (especially hagiographic accounts), Jan Sixt as composer is best known for having created a “celebratory anthology” in 1626 to commemorate the victory of the Catholic League troops over the Danish King Christian IV at the Battle of Lutter. It is this collection, dedicated to Ferdinand II (Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia), in which we find all nine of Sixt’s surviving musical compositions, including a Te Deum, Sanctus, Miserere, and this setting of the Magnificat.