CHARPENTIER: Litanies de la Vierge; Miserere; Antienne; Annunciate superi – Ensemble Correspondances/ Sebastien Dauce – Harmonia mundi

by | Sep 10, 2013 | Classical CD Reviews

CHARPENTIER: Litanies de la Vierge, H.83; Miserere, H.193; Antienne, H. 526; Annunciate superi, H.333 – Ensemble Correspondances/ Sebastien Dauce – Harmonia mundi HMC 902169, 60:33 *****:

This fascinating collection of Charpentier sacred music is subtitled “Music for the House of Guise”, and it brings to light a circumstance and peculiarity of station that is perhaps unique among most composers of the age. Charpentier himself was truly heads and tails above most of his peers, writing music that always pressed the envelop, dared to explore, and didn’t hesitate to make demands on the musicians—and dare I say the public as well—that went well beyond the average listener’s ears. In this case we are not talking about a public as such, but about a private enterprise that nonetheless captured the composer’s heart and soul, and enabled him to fashion some of the most original and daring music of his career.

Charpentier lived in the House of Guise in the rue de la Chaume in Paris for 20 years. During that time he became very close to the family, especially Marie de Lorraine, Princess of Guise, and the last family member to bear that name. Upon her death the composer finally left the household. The family was intensely Catholic, and suffered for it under King Henry III. She was deeply devoted to the Virgin Mary, having been born on August 15, the feast of the Assumption. Music was her chief concern, and she learned much of it while sojourning as a girl in Italy. As a result, her particular patronage was directed in this manner, and she kept a large stable of musicians that were said to have rivaled and even surpassed the quality of the royal court. Charpentier wrote a huge quantity of music for this most personal of ensembles, and it is from that collection that the pieces on this disc are taken.

They are, in a word, gorgeous. One only needs to listen to the last movement of the Miserere, “Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus” to understand how powerful Charpentier’s music had become at that point: richly ornate counterpoint, highly virtuosic vocal writing, and extraordinarily fecund melody. All of the pieces here share those same characteristics, and one simply doesn’t hear this type of personal and even intimate expression in the large scaled masses or those works written for outside forces. Great as they are, this repertory has specialness about it that every person who thinks he or she knows the composer well should explore. The wondrous sound and exceptional quality of the singers and instrumentalists of the Ensemble Correspondances make for an outstanding disc of rare quality. No phony pretentions in these readings—they are studied and considered performances of repertory that demands the minutest attentiveness, and projected with alertness and bold spirit. An exceptional disc!

—Steven Ritter

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