Te Deum, H. 146
Program Notes by Martin Pearlman
Over the past half century, as Charpentier's music has been gradually revived, he has become recognized as one of the great figures of the Baroque era and a composer of great originality and emotional depth. This Te Deum, no doubt his best known work, was the first of his works to be recorded (1953), and its familiar prelude is particularly popular in Europe as a theme song on Eurovision.
The ancient Te Deum hymn was often set to music through the centuries to celebrate military victories or other public events, but the exact occasion of this setting by Charpentier is not known for certain. It dates from the early 1690's, when he was music master for the Jesuits in Paris, and it may well have been written to celebrate Louis XIV's victory over the allies at Steenkerque in Flanders (1692).
It is scored for a large ensemble of eight soloists and chorus with an orchestra of flutes, oboes, bassoons, strings, organ, and -- for the only time among his six Te Deums -- for the military sound of trumpets and timpani. It opens with its famous warlike prelude, but then moves between beautiful, introspective solo music and brighter fanfares with chorus, trumpets, and timpani. As always, Charpentier's setting is highly sensitive to the details of the text.
Many people both in his time and in ours have considered Charpentier to be at least the equal of the more famous French court composer Lully. During his lifetime, he was highly respected by connoisseurs and rose to important posts outside the court, but, due largely to Lully's jealousy, he never held a position in the court or received the kinds of honors that such a position might bring.
As a young man, Charpentier spent time in Rome, where he met Carissimi, whose intensely expressive music and Italian style were a great influence on his own music. By his early thirties, he was serving as music director, as well as an haute-contre singer (high tenor) for the important musical establishment of the Duchesse de Guise, the king's niece, for whom he wrote a great many dramatic and sacred works. During that time, he began also to collaborate on theatrical works with Molière and his company of actors. But his success and his growing reputation as one of the king's favorites eventually aroused the jealousy of Lully, who kept Charpentier from gaining a position at court and who was granted royal edicts that restricted performances of some of his rival's music. He nonetheless held several important posts outside the court, including that of music director of St. Louis, the main Paris church of the Jesuits, for whom he wrote religious works and sacred dramas and finally, after the death of Lully, rose to one of the most prestigious positions in all of France, music director of Sainte-Chapelle.
However, as a result of being ostracized from the court, Charpentier fell into complete obscurity shortly after his death. His music was only resurrected in the second half of the twentieth century, and just the barest outline of his career has survived, with hardly any information about Charpentier the man -- this compared to the wealth of information and accounts about Lully. Late in his life, he wrote an ironic and poignant "funeral oration" for himself, in which he depicts himself as a ghost returned to earth:
I was a musician, considered good by the good musicians and ignorant by the ignorant ones. And since those who scorned me were more numerous than those who praised me, music brought me small honor and great burdens. And just as I at birth brought nothing into this world, thus when I died I took nothing away.
Boston Baroque Performances
Te Deum, H. 146
February 14 & 16, 2014
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Amanda Forsythe, soprano
Brenna Wells, soprano
Lawrence Wiliford, tenor
Katherine Growdon, mezzo-soprano
Jason Wang, tenor
Jonas Budris, tenor
Andrew Garland, baritone
Dana Whiteside, baritone