Lalande et Charpentier : Te Deum

Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704) and Michel-Richard de Lalande (1657-1726) Te Deum

Thursday 12 November, 8pm

Chapelle Royale

Duration: 1h30 including interval

If there is one work that embodies the majesty of the reign of Louis XIV, it is the Te Deum. A hymn of praise and victory, it rang out in the Chapelle Royale to celebrate military triumphs as well as events within the royal family. This concert brings together the two peaks of the genre: the universally celebrated Te Deum of Marc-Antoine Charpentier and that of Michel-Richard de Lalande, whose architectural nobility is striking. Charpentier's Te Deum, introduced by its famous baroque trumpets, unfolds a pomp whose energy is matched only by its fervour. In mirror image, Lalande, favourite musician of the Sun King, offers a score of great polyphonic richness, in which the mastery of counterpoint blends with an extraordinary dramatic power. Together, these two masterpieces illustrate the golden age of French sacred music, between Versailles splendour and spiritual inwardness.

Under the direction of Gaétan Jarry, the Orchestre de l'Opéra Royal joins the Pages and Chantres of the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, as well as the Chœur de l'Opéra Royal. This magnificent cast, carried by the voices of the new intake of the Académie de l'Opéra Royal, restores to these works of the Grand Siècle their original brilliance beneath the vaults of the Chapelle Royale.