Te Deum

Composer and singer, Marc-Antoine Charpentier left more than 500 pieces, the great majority of them vocal. Thus Leçons des ténèbres, Te Deum, oratorios and no fewer than 235 motets constitute a unique corpus for the time. If Lully and Henry Dumont are the great figures of the court, Charpentier would evolve far from the splendours of Versailles and the spheres of power. He was nonetheless appreciated by Louis XIV and it was at his request that he composed his most famous Te Deum, H146, most probably to celebrate the Victory of Steinkerque in 1692. This powerful fresco, whose prelude opens to the martial rhythms of timpani and trumpets, symbolises Louis XIV's Great Century of the Arts. Beyond its first eight bars, which in 1953 became the musical symbol of Eurovision, it is urgent today to rediscover other no less admirable works by this composer who was so representative of the French spirit. Sébastien Daucé, a great connoisseur of this corpus, will gladly introduce us to it.

PRODUCTION Théâtre des Champs-Elysées