Release type
ALBUM
Charpentier: Motets for Holy Week & Mass for 4 Choirs
Product information
From $7.92
2004
4 Volumes
8 Tracks
01:01:46
Release options
(C) 2005 ATMA Classique
Volume 1
-
1Popularity 0/10
Volume 2
-
1Popularity 0/10
Volume 3
-
1Popularity 0/10
Volume 4
-
1
Kyrie
08:40
Popularity 0/10 -
2
Gloria
06:09
Popularity 0/10 -
3
Credo
10:24
Popularity 0/10 -
4
Sanctus
03:04
Popularity 0/10 -
5
Agnus Dei
02:59
Popularity 0/10
The music of Marc-Antoine Charpentier has a moderate range and a deceptively simple harmonic framework that lead a wide variety of performing forces to attempt his works. The little Messe de minuit was a Christmastime favorite even in the years when French Baroque music was almost unknown otherwise. But choirs can get in over their heads, and that happens here even to Le Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal, a group that has released fine recordings of music by Carissimi and other Baroque composers. Charpentier worked in the upper echelons of the musical world under Louis XIV, the Sun King, one of the most regimented and exacting musical environments ever to have existed on the face of the earth. The works on this album -- three "Grands Motets" (psalm settings) for Holy Week plus a Messe à quatre choeurs -- provide ample evidence for the musical difficulties that lurk beneath the stepwise melodies and distinct blocks of massed sound in Charpentier's choral music. They are brimming with bizarre dissonances. Charpentier, as quoted in the liner notes here, bragged that he could get away with outrageous experiments because of the large ensembles at his disposal: "the forbidden intervals sound good with 16 voices," he wrote, but "for eight they are excusable, and for six, four, three, two, and one, they are intolerable." Matching his harmonic approach is a very subtle treatment of rhythmic shifts that goes far beyond the vivid strokes of triple meter that were standard in the oratorio style Charpentier inherited. Much of Charpentier's music has the same hothouse atmosphere we find in that of François Couperin; Charpentier's hothouse is just bigger.
What this means in performance is that the intonational confidence and rhythmic crispness that conductor William Christie has brought to Charpentier's works is absolutely essential. But it is lacking in places on this ambitious super audio CD. Perhaps there was some kind of non-equal-temperament tuning being attempted, but if so, the mostly Montreal-area soloists, the choir, and the organist weren't always on the same page about it; startling pitch mismatches between the end of one section and the beginning of the next occur several times. Most troublesome of all is that the choir just seems uncertain about laying into those dissonances. Take the absolutely scrumptious half cadence that occurs about three and a half minutes into the Credo of the mass, track six, for an example. The soloists' treatment of the following Crucifixus section is sensitive, but they don't have the commanding quality necessary for the subsequent Resurrexit. This was obviously a recording on which plenty of money was lavished; the cover, featuring a spectacular thistle-like flower, is a beautiful evocation of the Baroque spirit, and Atma's SACD sound is top-notch. Overall, though, there are better choices for those who have gotten interested in Charpentier. Recordings of the motets are hard to come by, a factor that may recommend this disc. But the recording of the mass on Hyperion, by the Ex Cathedra Chamber Choir and Baroque Orchestra, is preferable. Here's hoping for a Christie recording of this music.
What this means in performance is that the intonational confidence and rhythmic crispness that conductor William Christie has brought to Charpentier's works is absolutely essential. But it is lacking in places on this ambitious super audio CD. Perhaps there was some kind of non-equal-temperament tuning being attempted, but if so, the mostly Montreal-area soloists, the choir, and the organist weren't always on the same page about it; startling pitch mismatches between the end of one section and the beginning of the next occur several times. Most troublesome of all is that the choir just seems uncertain about laying into those dissonances. Take the absolutely scrumptious half cadence that occurs about three and a half minutes into the Credo of the mass, track six, for an example. The soloists' treatment of the following Crucifixus section is sensitive, but they don't have the commanding quality necessary for the subsequent Resurrexit. This was obviously a recording on which plenty of money was lavished; the cover, featuring a spectacular thistle-like flower, is a beautiful evocation of the Baroque spirit, and Atma's SACD sound is top-notch. Overall, though, there are better choices for those who have gotten interested in Charpentier. Recordings of the motets are hard to come by, a factor that may recommend this disc. But the recording of the mass on Hyperion, by the Ex Cathedra Chamber Choir and Baroque Orchestra, is preferable. Here's hoping for a Christie recording of this music.
Volume 1
1. Psalm 70, H. 228, "In te Domine speravi": Psalmus David 70us, 3ème psaume du 1ère nocturne du Mercredi Saint (Ps LXXI)
by Sarah Barnes
- Primary Artist
-
Charles Daniels
Martin Auclair
Michiel Schrey
Sarah Barnes
Stradivaria
Studio De Musique Ancienne De Montréal - Choir/chorus
- Studio De Musique Ancienne De Montréal
- Ensemble
- Stradivaria
- Composer
- Marc-antoine Charpentier
- Conductor
- Christopher Jackson
Volume 2
1. Psalm 26, H. 229, "Dominus illuminatio mea": Psalmus David 26us, 3ème psaume du 1ère nocturne du Jeudi Sain (Ps XXVII)
by Sarah Barnes
- Primary Artist
-
Charles Daniels
Marie Magistry
Martin Auclair
Michiel Schrey
Sarah Barnes
Stradivaria
Studio De Musique Ancienne De Montréal - Choir/chorus
- Studio De Musique Ancienne De Montréal
- Ensemble
- Stradivaria
- Composer
- Marc-antoine Charpentier
- Conductor
- Christopher Jackson
Volume 3
1. Psalm 15, H. 230, "Conserva me, Domine": Psalmus David 15us, 3ème psaume du 1ère nocturne du Vendredi Saint (Ps XVI)
by Sarah Barnes
- Primary Artist
-
Charles Daniels
Martin Auclair
Michiel Schrey
Sarah Barnes
Stradivaria
Studio De Musique Ancienne De Montréal - Choir/chorus
- Studio De Musique Ancienne De Montréal
- Ensemble
- Stradivaria
- Composer
- Marc-antoine Charpentier
- Conductor
- Christopher Jackson
Volume 4
1. Messe a 4 choeurs, H. 4: Kyrie
- Primary Artist
-
Stradivaria
Studio De Musique Ancienne De Montréal - Choir/chorus
- Studio De Musique Ancienne De Montréal
- Ensemble
- Stradivaria
- Composer
- Marc-antoine Charpentier
- Conductor
- Christopher Jackson
2. Messe a 4 choeurs, H. 4: Gloria
- Primary Artist
-
Stradivaria
Studio De Musique Ancienne De Montréal - Choir/chorus
- Studio De Musique Ancienne De Montréal
- Ensemble
- Stradivaria
- Composer
- Marc-antoine Charpentier
- Conductor
- Christopher Jackson
- Unknown Contributor Role
3. Messe a 4 choeurs, H. 4: Credo
- Primary Artist
-
Stradivaria
Studio De Musique Ancienne De Montréal - Choir/chorus
- Studio De Musique Ancienne De Montréal
- Ensemble
- Stradivaria
- Composer
- Marc-antoine Charpentier
- Conductor
- Christopher Jackson
4. Messe a 4 choeurs, H. 4: Sanctus
- Primary Artist
-
Stradivaria
Studio De Musique Ancienne De Montréal - Choir/chorus
- Studio De Musique Ancienne De Montréal
- Ensemble
- Stradivaria
- Composer
- Marc-antoine Charpentier
- Conductor
- Christopher Jackson
- Unknown Contributor Role
5. Messe a 4 choeurs, H. 4: Agnus Dei
- Primary Artist
-
Stradivaria
Studio De Musique Ancienne De Montréal - Choir/chorus
- Studio De Musique Ancienne De Montréal
- Ensemble
- Stradivaria
- Composer
- Marc-antoine Charpentier
- Conductor
- Christopher Jackson
- Unknown Contributor Role
Technical Specifications
- Volume
- 4 volumes in total
- Tracks
- 8 tracks available
- Type
- ALBUM
- Format
- Digital Media
- Duration
- 1 hour, 1 minutes and 46 seconds
- Explicit
- None
- Coverart
- Available and up to 1415x1415 px
- Booklet
- Not available
- Max Quality
CD Quality (Lossless)
16bit / 44.1 kHz
Stereo
- Audio Extension
Lossless: FLAC, M4A, WAV, WV, AIFF
Lossy: AAC, MP3, M4A, MP4, OGA, OGG, OPUS, WMA
- Archive Format
- Available in these formats: ZIP, TAR, RAR
- Lyrics
- No lyrics found
- Synchronized Lyrics
- No synced lyrics found
- Genres
- Classical, Vocal Music, Choral
- Label
- ATMA Classique
- Music Distribution Service
- Naxos of America Inc.
- Country
Canada- Language
- English (United States)
- Popularity
- Popularity 0/10
- Release Date
- Dec 31, 2004
- Track Preview
- Available
- Delivery Charge
- Free
- Delivery Method
- Digital download link via Email or Personal Dashboard on this site
- UPC
- 722056233828
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