Marc-Antoine Charpentier – An Outstanding French Composer

Marc-Antoine Charpentier was born in Paris, France, sometime in 1643. He came from a long line of artists, such as scribes & painters. Charpentier was a remarkably well educated child, and registered himself to a law school in Paris, France, as soon as he graduated. No matter how hard he tried, however, it just wasn't the right topic for him. He rescinded himself before the first semester even ended. Just like the lives before him, he went to Italy to study painting. And everything was all going well for a while-until Giacomo Carissimi had noticed him. Immediately, he fell under the magical spell of his mesmerizing oratorios. Here, he had spent around three or so years here from the years 1667-1670. These were the years that launched his career. The moment of his return to France, Charpentier became a chapelmaster to the dauphin but lost the position due to the influence of Jean-Baptise Lully.

After this fallout, he decided to be a house composer, instead. He worked for a woman under the name of Marie de Lorraine, familiarly known as Mlle de Guise. Not only did he work for Mlle de Guise, but also for her cousin, Mme de Guise. Here, he was given an ‘apartment’, in the recently renovated Hotel de Guise. For the next seventeen years, Charpentier stayed here and composed good quality works for her, in quite considerable quantities. And despite what would often be asserted, his service for Mlle de Guise was not a ‘directory’ of any sort. His only reason for working there was to create his musical compositions. During the years he worked here, however, he also had other priorities. He composed music for the reconditioned version of Moliere’s, The Forced Marriage, (the year 1672), and did another collaboration with him again in The Imaginary Invalid, (the year 1673). Even after his death, he worked for the theater until 1685. From about 1679, had composed music for the dauphin’s chapel, as he had originally hoped to do.

Charpentier had a superior mastery in compositions such as oratorios, masses, operas, and many other smaller pieces, that are more difficult to categorize, such as plays. His most famous work is the Christian hymn, Te Deum laudamus, or Te Deum. This song is also known as Ambrosin hymn, or a song of the church. The full name is repeated many times throughout the song, and is rendered as “Thee, O God, we praise”. It was attributed to the two Fathers and Doctors of the Church, Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine. The song was a chant dedicated to Christian and Catholic Churches. The most famous part of the song was the two-minute prelude. This piece was created in rondo form.

His other two most famous songs are his plays, Medee and David et Jonathas. Medee is a musical tragedy in five acts, with a prologue from Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It was premiered at a theater in Paris on December 4th, 1693. Sadly, however, this opera only lasted only up until March 15th, 1694. The overall format for David et Jonathan is a lot the same. It’s another opera in five acts, with the prologue created by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. This was first performed at a college in Paris, on February 28th, 1688. It was based on the Old Testament friendship between David and Jonathan.