TE DEUM Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Le Concert Spirituel Hervé Niquet
GCD 921603
—
Performing artists
Le Concert Spirituel Hervé Niquet, direction
Production details
Playing time: 55’15 Recorded in the Église Notre Dame du Liban, Paris, France, in July 2000 Engineered by Manuel Mohino Produced by Dominique Daigremont & Hervé Niquet Executive producer: Carlos Céster Editorial assistant: María Díaz Booklet essay: Jean-Yves Patte Booklet in English-Français-Deutsch-Español
Buy this product
MARC-ANTOINE CHARPENTIER (1643-1704)
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
About this CD
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.