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Information About

Marc Antoine Charpentier





LIFE


He was born in or near Paris , the son of a master scribe who had very good connections to influential families in the Parlement Of Paris . Marc-Antoine himself received a very good education (perhaps with the help of the Jesuits) and registered for law school in Paris, when he was eighteen. Patricia Ranum (ref.) has made it possible to now say for certain that it is known that he was a "young man" when he studied in Rome , probably, according to Ranum, between 1667 and 1669 . While in Rome he studied with Giacomo Carissimi ; an old legend of his going to Rome to study painting, prior to his musical talent being discovered by Carissimi, is undocumented. Certainly he acquired a solid knowledge of contemporary Italian practice, which he brought back to France.

Most likely he worked for Marie de Lorraine, duchesse de Guise on his return to France, as her house composer, until her death in 1688 . During this time he composed a considerable quantity of dramatic secular vocal works, as well as psalm settings, Hymn s, a Magnificat setting, a Mass , and motets (which he called stories and canticum).

Beginning around 1672 , he worked with Molière after Molière's falling out with Jean-Baptiste Lully . 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, 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 s, Mass es, Opera 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'' if they are in French, but ''cantata'' if they are in Italian.


MISCELLANEOUS


The Prelude to his Te Deum , H. 146, a Rondeau , is very well-known as the signature tune for the European Broadcasting Union , heard in the opening credits of the Vienna New Year's Concert and the Eurovision Song Contest .


CHARPENTIER'S WORKS


Charpentier's compositions were catalogued by Hugh Wiley Hitchcock . They are often referred to by ''H'' (for Hitchcock) number.


Operas

  • ''Les Amours d'Acis et Galatée'' (1678)

  • ''La Descente d'Orphée aux Enfers'' (1686-1687)

  • ''Le Jugement de Paris'' (1690)

  • ''Philomele'' (1690)

  • ''Médée'' (1693)



Biblical tragedies

  • ''Celse Martyr.'' Music lost; P. Bretonneau's libretto published in 1687.

  • ''David et Jonathas,'' H. 490, 1688. (Libretto by P. Bretonneau.)



Pastorales

  • ''Actéon'' (1684)

  • ''La Couronne de Fleurs'' (1685)

  • ''La Fête de Ruel'' (1685)

  • ''Il faut rire et chanter: Dispute de Bergers'' (1685)

  • ''Le Retour de Printemps''

  • ''Cupido Perfido Dentr'al Mio Cor''

  • ''Petite Pastorale Eglogue de Bergers''



Pastoraletta

  • ''Amor Vince Ogni Cosa''



Incidental Theater Music

  • ''Les Facheux,'' 1672. Music lost, drama by Moliere.

  • ''La Comtesee de'Escarbagnas,'' H. 494; 1672 (Drama by Moliere.)

  • ''Le Médecin malgré lui,'' music lost, date uncertain. (Drama by Moliere.)

  • ''L'Inconnu,'' music lost; 1675 (Drama by Donneau de Visé and Thomas Corneille.)

  • ''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.)

  • ''Vénus et Adonis,'' H. 507; 1685. (Drama by Donneau de Visé.)



Comédies-Ballet

  • ''Le Mariage Forcé'' (1672)

  • ''Le Malade Imaginaire'' (1672)

  • ''Le Sicilien'' (1679)



Ballets



Divertissements

  • ''Les Plaisirs de Versailles'' (1682)

  • ''Idylle sur le Retour de la Sante du Roi'' (1687)



Musical Idylls

  • ''Les Arts Florissants''



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 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)

  • ''Dixit Dominus'' (H. 204)

  • ''In nativitatem Domini canticum'' (H. 416)

  • ''Noëls (3)'' (H. 531 c. 1680)

  • ''Noëls pour les instruments'' (H. 534, c. 1690)



MEDIA



BIBLIOGRAPHY


Biography

  • Cessac, Catherine. ''Marc-Antoine Charpentier''. Paris: Fayard, 1988.

  • Cessac, Catherine. ''Marc-Antoine Charpentier''. Translated from the French by E. Thomas Glasow. Portland (Oregon): Amadeus Press, 1995.

  • Ranum, Patricia. ''Portraits around Marc-Antoine Charpentier'', ("Portraits around Marc-Antoine Charpentier", {Link without Title} Baltimore: Dux Femina Facti, 2004. ISBN 0966099737.



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 Oevres 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.