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.
Te Deum & Motets
Marches pour les Trompettes H.547
Te Deum H.146
Dixit Dominus H.202
In Honorem Sancti Ludovici Regis Galliae Canticum H.365
Domine Salvum Fac Regem H.291
Le Concert Spirituel, choir and orchestra
Hervé Niquet, direction
Recorded at theÉglise Notre Dame du Liban, Paris, France, in July 2000
Engineered by Manuel Mohino and produced by Dominique Daigremont & Hervé Niquet
But, curiously, it was not the triumphant nature of the Te Deum that attracted Hervé Niquet 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.
