Marc-Antoine Charpentier is the only composer of the age of Louis XIV to have distinguished himself so remarkably in the genre of the ‘sacred history’: he wrote more than thirty such works, all composed after his residence in Italy. Sébastien Daucé and the Ensemble Correspondances have carefully extracted from this outstanding corpus a number of gems that reflect both his experience in Rome (probably studying with Carissimi, the master of the oratorio) and the humanist concerns of an entire period. Like a miniature opera, each piece relates an exemplary destiny, including several strong-willed women (Judith, Cecilia, Mary Magdalene) and a deep friendship put to the test (Mors Saülis and Jonathæ).
Works:
Charpentier, M-A: Caecilia, virgo et martyr, H. 397
•
Charpentier, M-A: Dialogus inter Christum et homines H. 417
•
Charpentier, M-A: Dialogus inter Christum et peccatores, H. 425
•
Charpentier, M-A: Élévation, H. 408
•
Charpentier, M-A: Judith sive Bethulia liberata H. 391
•
Charpentier, M-A: Mors Saülis et Jonathae H 403
•
Charpentier, M-A: Motet pour les Trépassés
•
Charpentier, M-A: Pestis mediolanensis, H. 398
•
Charpentier, M-A: Prelude pour Mementote peccatores, H. 425a