The Magnificat uses a call and response style inspired by 1960s pop music, but also canonic techniques and unusual dissonances derived from such diverse sources as Cavalieri and the Franco-Flemish school. The soprano soloist sings a playful and childlike theme to evoke the innocent joy of the girl Mary, but in the Nunc Dimittis, related material is presented by a tenor using oddly balanced rhythms to suggest the unsteady gait of the old man Simeon.

The Magnificat was recorded by Chester Cathedral choir in 2002 for their disk The Water of Life and is now being published alongside the Nunc Dimittis as the Chester Service.