Another Step to Finishing a Rediscovery

Marc-Antoine Charpentier is one of those never really forgotten composers who have received increased attention by scholars, performers and concert-goers over the last ten to fifteen years. Today, a good number of his works are available in good recordings. However, the present recording fits well into the discography, presenting two pieces that have not previously been committed to disc. As stated in the booklet, the editions used for this production were prepared by the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles (the Mass) and the performing group, the Concert Spirituel (the Te Deum) themselves. Charpentier is certainly best known for his grand ceremonial style with trumpets and timpani (as in his famous Te Deum H. 146), or the sombre tone of his funeral music for Marie Thérèse, the Sunking Louis XIV’s wife. The pieces recorded here show…