MARC-ANTOINE CHARPENTIER

1-2 Marches pour les Trompettes H.547

Te Deum H.146
3 Prélude
4 Air de basse
5 Chœur
6 Trio d'hommes
7 Chœur
8 Air de dessus
9 Chœur
10 Duo dessus & basse
11 Trio dessus & basse
12 Chœur

Dixit Dominus H.202
13 Prélude
14 Air basse & chœur
15 Duo & chœur
16 Trio & chœur
17 Trio & chœur

In Honorem Sancti Ludovici Regis Galliae Canticum H.365
18 Prélude & trio
19 Chœur
20 Air dessus & chœur
21 Air de taille & chœur
22 Trio d'hommes & chœur

23 Domine Salvum Fac Regem H.291

Le Concert Spirituel have recorded Charpentier’s sumptuous, colourful and joyous Te Deum and motets for Glossa. And it is a field of music in which French Motet experts Le Concert Spirituel excels. A masterpiece of French music, the Te Deum was a song of thanksgiving flourishing with the military fortunes of Louis XIV, king of France, who was leading his country in a protracted war.

But, curiously, it was not the triumphant nature of the Te Deum that attracted Hervé Niquet –director of Le Concert Spirituel– to this piece. “I love the intimacy of Charpentier”, he says, something which can be found when you look at the performance history of Charpentier’s music in some of its original settings, such as the house of the Duchess of Guise or the Sainte Chapelle, where it is clear that detail, vocal and compositive virtuosity, rather than symphonic magnitude, were to the fore. Charpentier’s genius is such, however, that it perfectly express the grandeur and poetry indispensable for works like the Te Deum.

This new recording by Le Concert Spirituel is a truly original version of this memorable music that achieves an amazingly fine balance between intimacy and symphonic fireworks.