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Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643 24 February 1704) was a French composer of the Baroque
Baroque music

Baroque music describes a period or style of European classical music approximately extending from Dates of classical music eras. This era is said to begin in music after the Renaissance music and was followed by the Classical music era....
 era.

He was a prolific and versatile composer, producing music of the highest quality in several genres. His mastery in the composition of sacred vocal music was recognized and acknowledged by his contemporaries.

pentier was born in or near Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
, the son of a master scribe who had very good connections to influential families in the Parlement of Paris.






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Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643 24 February 1704) was a French composer of the Baroque
Baroque music

Baroque music describes a period or style of European classical music approximately extending from Dates of classical music eras. This era is said to begin in music after the Renaissance music and was followed by the Classical music era....
 era.

Ma Charpentier I
He was a prolific and versatile composer, producing music of the highest quality in several genres. His mastery in the composition of sacred vocal music was recognized and acknowledged by his contemporaries.

Life

Charpentier was born in or near Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
, the son of a master scribe who had very good connections to influential families in the Parlement of Paris. Marc-Antoine received a very good education, perhaps with the help of the Jesuits, and registered for law school in Paris when he was eighteen. He was in Rome
Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
, probably between 1667 and 1669, and studied with Giacomo Carissimi
Giacomo Carissimi

Giacomo Carissimi , was an Italy composer, one of the most celebrated masters of the early Baroque music, or, more accurately, the Roman School of music....
. A certain legend claims that Charpentier initially traveled to Rome to study painting before he was discovered by Carissimi. This story is undocumented and possibly untrue. Regardless, he acquired a solid knowledge of the contemporary Italian practice that he brought to France upon his return.

Most likely he worked for Marie de Lorraine, duchesse de Guise
Marie, Duchess of Guise

Marie, Duchess of Guise was the daughter of Charles, Duke of Guise and Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse and last member of the Lorraine branch of the House of Guise....
 on his return to France, as her house composer, until her death in 1688. (The names of the Guise musicians appear as marginalia in Charpentier's manuscripts, 1684-1687, but the composer is not named in the princess's will, having apparently entered the employ of the Jesuits during the fall of 1687.) During this time he composed a considerable quantity of dramatic secular vocal works, as well as Psalm settings, hymn
Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity/deities, a prominent figure or an epic tale....
s, a Magnificat
Magnificat

The Magnificat is a canticle frequently sung liturgy in Christian church services. The text of the canticle is taken directly from the Gospel of Luke where it is spoken by the Virgin Mary upon the occasion of her Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth....
 setting, a mass
Mass (music)

The Mass, a Musical form of sacred music, is a choir composition that sets the fixed portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music. Most Masses are settings of Mass in Latin, the traditional language of the Roman Catholic Church, but there are a significant number written in the languages of non-Catholic countries where vernacular worship h...
, and motets, which he called stories and canticum.

Ma Charpentier Ii
Beginning around 1672, he worked with Molière
Molière

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known by his stage name Moli?re, was a French playwright and actor who is considered one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature....
, after Molière's falling out with Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully

Jean-Baptiste de Lully , was French composer of Italian birth, who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He became a French citizenship in 1661....
. During the 1680s Charpentier served as maître de musique at the Jesuits' Paris church of St. Louis. In addition, Charpentier served as the music teacher to Philippe
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

Philippe Charles d'Orl?ans, Duke of Orl?ans, , was a member of the royal family of France. At the death of his uncle, king Louis XIV of France, he was the regent during the minority of the five-year old new king Louis XV of France, from 1715 to 1723, an era known as R?gence....
, Duke of Chartres. Charpentier was appointed maître de musique à la Sainte Chapelle in 1698, a post he held until his death in 1704. One of his most famous compositions during his tenure was the Mass "Assumpta Est Maria" (H.11).

Music, style and influence

His compositions include oratorio
Oratorio

An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and solo ists. The oratorio was somewhat modeled after the opera. Their similarities include the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable Fictional character, and arias....
s, mass
Mass (music)

The Mass, a Musical form of sacred music, is a choir composition that sets the fixed portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music. Most Masses are settings of Mass in Latin, the traditional language of the Roman Catholic Church, but there are a significant number written in the languages of non-Catholic countries where vernacular worship h...
es, opera
Opera

Opera is an Performing arts in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work which combines a text and a musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition....
s, and numerous smaller pieces that are difficult to categorize. Many of his smaller works for one or two voices and instruments resemble the Italian cantata of the time, and share most features except for the name: Charpentier calls them air sérieux or air à boire
Air à boire

Air ? boire is a French term which was used between the mid-17th and mid-18th centuries for a "drinking song". These were generally strophic, syllabic songs to light texts....
 if they are in French, but cantata if they are in Italian.

Modern significance

The prelude
Prelude (music)

A prelude is a short Musical piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece. While, during the Baroque Age, for example, it may have served as an introduction to succeeding movements of a work that were usually longer and more complex, it may also have been a stand alone piece of work during the Romantic Era....
 to his Te Deum
Te Deum (Charpentier)

Marc Antoine Charpentier composed his grand polyphony motet Te Deum in D major probably between 1688 and 1698, during his stay at the Jesuit Order Church of Saint-Louis in Paris, where he held the position of musical director....
, H. 146, a rondeau
Rondeau

Rondeau may mean:*Rondeau , a form of French poetry*Rondo, a musical form from the 18th century to the present, also spelt 'rondeau'*Rondeau , a medieval and early Renaissance musical form distinct from the 18th century rondo...
, is well-known as the signature tune for the European Broadcasting Union
European Broadcasting Union

The European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 75 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 43 associate broadcasters from a further 25....
, heard in the opening credits of the Vienna New Year's Concert
Vienna New Year's Concert

The New Year Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is a concert of classical music that takes place each year in the morning of January 1 in Vienna, Austria....
, the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition....
 and other Eurovision
Eurovision Network

The Eurovision Network is part of the European Broadcasting Union, itself founded in 1950 as a system of international broadcasting cooperation....
 events. This theme was also the intro to the Olympiad films of Bud Greenspan
Bud Greenspan

Bud Greenspan is an eight-time Emmy Award-winning film director, writer, and film producer, mostly known for his sports documentaries. He was born in New York City, New York....
.

Charpentier's works

Charpentier's compositions were catalogued by Hugh Wiley Hitchcock in his Les Oeuvres de Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Catalogue Raisonné, (Paris: Picard, 1982); references to works are often accompanied by their H (for Hitchcock) number.

Operas

  • Les amours d'Acis et Galatée, Lost, 1678?
  • Les arts florissants
    Les Arts florissants (opera)

    Les arts florissants is a short chamber opera in five scenes by Marc-Antoine Charpentier....
    ,     H. 487, 1685-6
  • La descente d'Orphée aux enfers
    La descente d'Orphée aux enfers

    La descente d'Orph?e aux enfers is a chamber opera in two acts by the France composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It was probably composed in late 1686 or early 1687 for a private performance at the house of Mademoiselle de Guise....
    ,     H. 488; 1686-7
  • Le jugement de Paris, (1690)
  • Philomele, Lost, 1690
  • Médée
    Médée (Charpentier)

    M?d?e is a French lyric tragedy in five acts and a prologue by Marc-Antoine Charpentier to a French libretto by Thomas Corneille. It was premiered in Paris on December 4 1693....
    ,     H. 491; 1693


Biblical tragedies

  • Celse Martyr, Music lost; P. Bretonneau's libretto published in 1687.
  • David et Jonathas
    David et Jonathas

    David et Jonathas is an opera in five acts and a prologue by the France composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier, first performed at the Coll?ge Louis-le-Grand, Paris on 25 February 1688....
    , H. 490, 1688. (Libretto by P. Bretonneau.)


Pastorales

  • Petite Pastorale Eglogue de Bergers, H. 479; mid-1670s?
  • Actéon
    Actéon

    Act?on is a Pastorale in the form of a miniature trag?die en musique in six scenes by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Opus H 481, based on a Greek myth....
    ,     H. 481; 1684
  • Il faut rire et chanter: Dispute de Bergers, H. 484; 1685
  • La Fête de Ruel, H. 485; 1685
  • La Couronne de Fleurs, H. 486; 1685
  • Le Retour de Printemps, Lost.
  • Cupido perfido dentr'al mio cor


Pastoraletta

  • Amor Vince Ogni Cosa, H. 492


Incidental Theater Music

  • Les Facheux, 1672. Music lost, drama by Molière
    Molière

    Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known by his stage name Moli?re, was a French playwright and actor who is considered one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature....
    .
  • La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas, H. 494; 1672 (Drama by Molière.)
  • Le Médecin malgré lui
    Le Médecin malgré lui

    Le M?decin malgr? lui is a comedy by Moli?re....
    ,     music lost, date uncertain. (Drama by Molière)
  • L'Inconnu, music lost; 1675 (Drama by Donneau de Visé and Thomas Corneille
    Thomas Corneille

    Thomas Corneille was a French dramatist. He was the brother of Pierre Corneille.Born in Rouen nearly twenty years after his brother, the "great Corneille", Thomas's skill as a poet seems to have shown itself early....
    )
  • Circé, H. 496; 1675. (Drama by Thomas Corneille; divertissements by Donneau de Visé.)
  • Overture du prologue de l'Inconnu, H. 499; 1679?
  • Andromède, H. 504; 1682 (Drama by Pierre Corneille
    Pierre Corneille

    File:Pierre Corneille 3.jpgPierre Corneille was a French tragedy who was one of the three great seventeenth Century French dramatists, along with Moli?re and Jean Racine....
    )
  • Vénus et Adonis, H. 507; 1685. (Drama by Donneau de Visé.)


Comédies-Ballet

  • Le Mariage forcé (1672)
  • Le Malade imaginaire
    Le Malade imaginaire

    Le Malade imaginaire is a play and the last work by Moli?re. It was first performed in 1673. Moli?re collapsed during the fourth performance of the play on February 17 1673, and died soon thereafter....
     (1672)
  • Le Sicilien (1679)


Ballets

  • Polyeucte, H. 498; 1679.


Divertissements

  • Les plaisirs de Versailles
    Les plaisirs de Versailles

    Les plaisirs de Versailles is a short opera by the France composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It was intended for the inauguration of Louis XIV's apartments at the palace of Versailles in 1682....
    ,     H. 480; 1682
  • Idylle sur le Retour de la Sante du Roi, H. 489; 1686-7


Interludes (Intermèdes)

  • Le Triomphe des Dames (1676)
  • La Pierre Philosophale (1681)
  • Endymion (1681)
  • Dialogues d'Angélique et de Médor (1685)


Sonatas

  • Sonates à huit


Sacred Music

  • Messe, (H. 1)
  • Extremum Dei Judicium (H. 401)
  • Messe de Minuit pour Noël (H. 9, c. 1690)
  • Missa Assumpta est Maria (H. 11, 1698-1702)
  • Litanies de la vierge (H. 83, 1683-1685)
  • Te Deum (H. 146, c. 1690)
    Te Deum (Charpentier)

    Marc Antoine Charpentier composed his grand polyphony motet Te Deum in D major probably between 1688 and 1698, during his stay at the Jesuit Order Church of Saint-Louis in Paris, where he held the position of musical director....
  • Dixit Dominus (H. 204)
  • In nativitatem Domini canticum (H. 416)
  • Noëls (3) (H. 531 c. 1680)
  • Noëls pour les instruments (H. 534, c. 1690)
  • Precatio pro filio regis(Offertory
    Offertory

    Offertory , the alms of a congregation collected in Church service, or at any Religion service.Offertory has also a special sense in the services of both the Anglicanism and Roman Catholic Church churches....
    ) (H. 166)
  • Panis quem ego dabo(Elevation
    Elevation (Liturgy)

    In Christian liturgy the Elevation is the ritual of raising the consecrated elements of Body of Christ and Blood of Christ during the celebration of the Eucharist....
    ) (H. 275)


Media


Bibliography


Biography

  • Cessac, Catherine. Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Translated from the French ed. (Paris 1988) by E. Thomas Glasow. Portland (Oregon): Amadeus Press, 1995.
  • Ranum, Patricia. Portraits Around Marc-Antoine Charpentier . Baltimore: Dux Femina Facti, 2004. ISBN 0-9660997-3-7.


Music History and Theory

  • Anthony, James R. French Baroque Music: From Beaujoyeulx to Rameau. Revised and expanded edition. Portland (Oregon): Amadeus Press, 1997.
  • Hitchcock, H.W. Les Oeuvres de Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Catalogue Raisonné. Paris: Picard, 1982.
  • Thomas, Downing A. Aesthetics of Opera in the Ancien Régime, 1647-1785. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge University Press, 2002.
  • Tunley, David. The Eighteenth-Century French Cantata. 2nd edition. Oxford (UK): Clarendon Press Oxford University Press, 1997.


External links

    • , a site in memory of the 300th anniversary of the composer's death
  • Speculations about the validity of a