Charpentier, Marc-Antoine (EN)

Charpentier Marc-Antoine, *ca. 1634 or later Paris, †24 February 1704 Paris, French composer. He came from a family of painters. Little is known about his life prior to the 1670s. It is known only that he spent some time in Rome (where he reportedly travelled with the intention of studying painting) and was a student of G. Carissimi at least between 1662 and 1667. He returned to Paris as a fully formed musician before 1672, as it was in that very year that Molière’s comedy La Comtesse d’Escarbagnas, featuring his music, was staged there. From then on, Charpentier collaborated as a composer with Molière’s Theater, and after Molière’s death (1673), with the Comédie Française until around the mid-1680s. At the same time, Charpentier’s association with Marie de Lorraine, Duchess of Guise, a cousin of the king, dates from around 1672; he held the position of maître de musique in her service until 1688. Between 1679 and 1681, Charpentier composed and likely conducted sacred works during private masses for the Dauphin. An important event in Charpentier’s life was his appointment around 1680 to yet another position – composer and maître de musique at the Jesuit church of St Louis and at the Jesuit College Louis-le-Grand. For this church, one of the most important musical centres in Paris, Charpentier composed the majority of his sacred music. The pinnacle of Charpentier’s career came in 1698 when he was appointed maître de musique at the Sainte-Chapelle du Palais. He held this position until the end of his life.

Charpentier is the first and only French composer who wrote Latin oratorios. Charpentier’s 22 works, now referred to as oratorios (H.E. Smither), do not exhibit the characteristics typical of compositions written in Italy in the second half of the 17th century, but rather display features typical of the Roman oratorio of the mid-century, primarily from the circle of G. Carissimi, D. Mazzocchi, and M. Marazzoli; these were thus much smaller works, usually in one movement (only nine of them are in two movements) and with Latin text; some functioned as motets performed during or after Mass, and most of them are based on texts closely tied to the liturgical calendar. The overall concept of the work is today described in Charpentier’s oratorios as conservative, while the stylistic devices he used are considered innovative (H.E. Smither). Despite clear influences from Carissimi, these devices are, however, the result of a convergence of contemporary French and Italian musical traditions. This is particularly evident in the recitative, where the melodic line is sometimes carried over the notes of a broken chord or contains progressive figures in the style of Carissimi. On the other hand, however, the highly varied rhythm, wide ambitus, and relatively large number of interval leaps characteristic of the récit indicate the influence of Lully’s music. In Charpentier’s oratorios, music historians (H.W. Hitchcock) distinguish – depending on the structure of the text – two types of arias. The first type consists of dramatic recitatives based on non-verse texts, introduced at key dramatic moments in the course of the oratorio; they are schematized according to the following sections: ABA, ABA1, ABACA, or other rondo-like structure. Section A usually expresses the fundamental emotion that dominates the entire aria; it always has a singing melody, contrasting with the recitative-like melodies of the other sections. The second type is a poetic aria, based on a verse text or at least one that is clearly articulated, usually set in a dance form, often a minuet; and thus, exhibiting a two-section form, with each part repeated. Ensemble passages play an important role in Charpentier’s oratorios, in which the composer masterfully depicts individual characters (e.g., the quarrel between two women in Judicium Salomonis). Chromaticism serves an equally important function, appearing much more frequently in Charpentier’s oratorios than in contemporary Italian oratorios. The choruses serve the role of narrators or commentators on events, participating in the action as a collective, or fulfilling a concluding, summarizing function. The role of the chorus in Charpentier’s works is thus very similar to that in Carissimi’s oratorios. The fundamental difference lies in the type of technical devices used, as the texture of the choral part in Charpentier’s works is, in fact, similar to that of the grand French motet of the second half of the 17th century. The choruses are thus large-scale vocal-instrumental structures featuring extensive use of concertante and polyphonic techniques (primarily imitative). While homorhythm prevails in Carissimi’s works, in Charpentier’s it is merely one of the techniques employed. In the choral part, the composer also frequently introduces the technique of alternation in a wide variety of combinations: from typical polychoral texture through alternation with a soloist or group of soloists to alternation between the chorus and the instrumental ensemble. The latter type of alternation plays a very important role in Charpentier’s oratorios; the composer does not limit himself to instrumental accompaniment for the vocal parts, but introduces – in addition to ritornellos – instrumental passages, symphonies of a distinctly programmatic nature (e.g., the introduction to the second part of Judicium Salomonis). Some compositions feature two instrumental ensembles (Caecilia virgo et martyr).

Among the several hundred sacred works, apart from oratorios, ceremonial pieces stand out in the form of grand motets with a rich vocal and instrumental formation, consisting of a series of choral, instrumental, ensemble, and solo sections, ranging from recitative-like passages to more lyrical ones. A characteristic feature of French music is the rondo structure of certain works. Charpentier also introduces three-movement or multi-movement works, symmetrical structure. Small motets, most often written for three lower voices (i.e., ATB), also demonstrate that Charpentier surpasses his contemporaries in ingenuity and technical sophistication. In his masses, the composer significantly developed polyphonic technique; he wrote only 12 of them, but deployed the full range of his compositional resources: from extremely simple works for solo voice and single-voice chorus to a grand, concertante polychoral mass with a “grandeur” unique for French music of the time. Another exceptional example is the purely instrumental mass, in which the composer set out to imitate the stops of the classical French organ (Messe pour plusieurs instruments au lieu des orgues).

In his short treatise Règles de composition, Charpentier discusses and explains the use of unusual and non-standard harmonic devices, such as parallel fifths, augmented sixth chords, augmented octaves, cross-relations, and others. However, according to Charpentier, such unconventional solutions can be justified solely by the content of the verbal text.

Very few of Charpentier’s works were published during his lifetime. These include: the tragedy Médée (Paris, 1694), the airs from the comedy Circé (Paris, 1676), and a collection of motets with instrumental accompaniment (Paris, 1709); in addition, individual airs were published in collections from the years: 1695, 1704, 1722, 1730, and 1734, as well as in the collection Nouveau Mercure Galant (Paris 1678). Charpentier’s compositions have survived to the present day mainly in the form of autographs collected in 28 folio volumes titled Mélanges autographes (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale) and in Collection Brossard and other manuscripts preserved in the libraries of Paris, Versailles, and Avignon.

Literature: J.F. Lalloulette Histoire et abrégé des ouvrages latins, italiens, et françois pour et contre la comédie et l’opéra, Paris 1697; H. Quittard Note sur un ouvrage inédit de Marc-Antoine Charpentier, “Zeitschrift der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft” VI, 1904/05; G. de Froberville L’Actéon de Marc-Antoine Charpentier, “Revue Belge de Musicologie” IX, 1928; K. Nef Das Petrus-Oratorium von Marc-Antoine Charpentier und die Passion, “Jahrbuch der Musikbibliothek Peters” 1930; L. de La Laurence Un opéra inédit de Marc-Antoine Charpentier, “Revue de Musicologie” XIII, 1932; C. Crussard Un musicien français oublié Marc-Antoine Charpentier 1634–1704, Paris 1945; Y. Rokseth Un Magnificat de Marc-Antoine Charpentier, “Journal of Renaissance and Baroque Musie” I, 1946/47; M. Barthélemy Notes sur Marc-Antoine Charpentier, “Revue Belge de Musicologie” VII, 1953; A. Gastoué Notes sur les manuscrits et sur quelques oeuvres de Marc-Antoine Charpentier, in the commemorative book of L. de La Laurence, Paris 1953; C.H. Barber The Liturgical Music of Marc-Antoine Charpentier, vol. 2, dissertation, Harvard University (Massachusetts) 1955; H.W. Hitchcock The Latin Oratorios of Marc-Antoine Charpentier, “The Musical Quarterly” XLI, 1955; H.W. Hitchcock The Instrumental Music of Marc-Antoine Charpentier, “The Musical Quarterly” XLVII, 1961; J.P. Dunn The “Grands Motets” of Marc-Antoine Charpentier, vol. 2, dissertation, State University of Iowa 1962; F. Raguel Marc-Antoine Charpentier, in the commemorative book of K.G. Fellerer, Regensburg 1962; C.H. Barber Les oratorios de Marc-Antoine Charpentier, RFMC III, 1963; F. Kaufmann Marc-Antoine Charpentier und sein “Te Deum”, “Musica Sacra” LXXXV, 1965; R.W. Lowe Marc-Antoine Charpentier, compositeur chez Molière, w: «Les études classiques» XII, 1965; R.W. Lowe Marc-Antoine Charpentier et l’opéra de collège, Paris 1966; W. Kolneder Die “Règles de composition” von Marc-Antoine Charpentier, in the commemorative book of J. Müller-Blattau, «Saarbrücken Studien zur Musik» I, Kassel 1966; B. Nielsen Les grands oratorios bibliques de Marc-Antoine Charpentier, “Dansk aarbog für musikforsking” V/VI, 1966/67; G. Massenkeil Marc-Antoine Charpentier als Messenkomponist, in: Colloquium amicorum, commemorative book of J. Schmidt-Görg, Bonn 1967; L. Ruff Marc-Antoine Charpentier “Règles de composition”, “The Consort” XXIV, 1967; H.W. Hitchcock Deux nouveaux manuscrits de Marc-Antoine Charpentier, “Revue Belge de Musicologie” LVIII, 1972; H.W. Hitchcock Problèmes d’édition de la musique de Marc-Antoine Charpentier pour “Le Malade imaginaire”, “Revue Belge de Musicologie” LVIII, 1972; H.E. Smither A History of the Oratorio, vol. 1, Chapel Hill, 1977; J.A. Sadie Charpentier and the Early French Ensemble Sonata, “Early Music” VII, 1979; H.W. Hitchcock Les oeuvres de Marc Charpentier. Catalogue raisonné, «La Vie Musicale en France sous Les Rois Bourbons», Paris 1982; H.W. Hitchcock Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Oxford 1990; C. Cessac Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Paris 1988, English translation by E.Th. Glasgow, Portland (Oregon) 1995; F. Wesołowski Aktèon/Actéon Marc-Antoine Charpentier, «Zeszyty Naukowe Akademii Muzycznej we Wrocławiu» No. 58, 1991; J. Lowe The Psalm Settings of Marc-Antoine Charpentier, dissertation of University of Cambridge 1992; N. Cronk The Play of Words and Music in Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Le malade imaginaire, “French Studies” XLVII, 1993; P.M. Ranum Vers une chronologie des oeuvres de Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Baltimore 1994; Ch. Whitfield Purcell et Charpentier. Deux opéras pastoraux en regard, “Ostinato rigore” V, 1995; G. Burgess The Chaconne and the Representation of Sovereign Power in Lully’s Amadis (1684) and Charpentier’s Médée (1693), in: Dance and Music in French Baroque Theatre. Sources and Interpretations, London 1998.