Composers, or collections of compositions, referring to or using all eight of the traditional Gregorian psalm tone settings of the Magnificat include the , the by Palestrina, the ' by Georg Rhau, and Johann Pachelbel's Magnificat fugues. Also the newer psalm tones were used for Magnificat settings:
Tonus X : Magnificat decimi toni – for later composers using this see e.g. Psalmi vespertini quatuor vocibus concinendi cum organo ad libitum, Op. 8 by Angelo Berardi
Tonus XI : Magnificat undecimi toni – for later composers using this see e.g. by Moritz von Hessen
Tonus XII : Magnificat duodecimi toni – for later composers using this see e.g. by Moritz von Hessen
Apart from the Magnificat sung to the psalm tones, in Gregorian chant there are also the Magnificat antiphons or O Antiphons inspiring composers like Arvo Pärt. In seventeenth centurypolyphony no other religious text, apart from the Mass Ordinary, was set more often than the Magnificat. Often only six out of twelve verses of the Magnificat were set in polyphony, performance alternating verses sung in polyphony and verses sung in monody according to the church tone. In such alternatim settings the even verses were chosen more often for setting in polyphony, because they contained the last verse of the doxology, so that the singing of the Magnificat ended with a piece in polyphony. Examples of such settings include the by Cristóbal de Morales: half of these include only the odd verses, the others only the even verses – both series of eight settings by Morales have one setting per traditional church tone. 's second setting of Deposuit potentes from Magnificat primi toni. The subject of this inversion fugue is highlighted with shades of blue. From around 1600 such Magnificats are also composed for the organ, e.g. Jean Titelouze's 1626 '. In the Baroque era the "cantata form" for religious compositions originated in Italy: like masses in the Neapolitan style, Magnificats could be set as a succession of self-contained sections in a variety of styles, choruses alternating with arias for solo singers. Francesco Durante's 1752 is an example of a composition in this style. In Anglicanism a Magnificat is usually combined with a Nunc dimittis in an Service, in which case the English translation of the text is used. For example, Orlando Gibbons composed such Services. In Orthodox Christianity the Magnificat, or "Song of the Theotokos", is sung in the Orthros as part of the Canon. All-night vigils include the Orthros, and a setting of such vigil thus usually includes the setting of a Magnificat, e.g. the "Canticle of the Theotokos", No. 13 in Tchaikovsky's All-Night Vigil.
