Marc-Antoine Charpentier - Baroque Christmas (Jordi Savall)

Information

Composer: Marc-Antoine Chaprentier

• Premier Noël "Une Jeune Pucelle"
• Pastorale sur la naissance de notre seigneur Jésus Christ, H. 483
• In Nativitatem Domini Canticum, H. 416: Nuit (interlude Instrumental pour cordes)
• Deuxième Noël "Or, nous dites Marie"
• Messe de Minuit, H. 9

La Capella Nacional de Catalunya

Le Concert Des Nations

Jordi Savall, conductor

Date: 2024

Label: Alia Vox

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Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Christ, is, together with Easter, one of the principal feasts in the Christian calendar, and occupies a pre-eminent place in the music of Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Although his works dedicated to the Nativity were commissioned, the composer, as a man of faith, gave them the very best of his inspiration. Charpentier’s most frequently performed work today is his Messe de Minuit, composed on a number of noëls (Christmas carols) whose tunes were familiar to all. However, to celebrate this feast, the composer also chose a variety of other genres, including instrumental Christmas music, the histoire sacrée (or oratorio) and pastorale.

The two major works presented here were commissioned by different patrons for whom Charpentier composed extensively and who influenced the evolution of his career in Paris. Not born into a family of musicians, Marc-Antoine was the son of Louis Charpentier, a master scribe, and spent his childhood and adolescence in the Saint-Séverin district of Paris. We know nothing about his musical training, but we do know that he attended the Faculty of Law. Perhaps he did part of a university degree, learning all aspects of music, like many of his colleagues. Or perhaps it was during the three years he spent in Rome, where he travelled for reasons that are not entirely clear, that he perfected his skills by studying and listening to the great masters who were active there at that time, such as Francesco Foggia, Alessandro Melani, Francesco Beretta and above all Giacomo Carissimi.