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Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704)
Assorted Music in Critical Editions

Of seventeenth-century French composers, Marc-Antoine Charpentier stands out for the impressive legacy he left to future generations of musicians. He was renowned in his day, and Charpentier's music continues to intrigue audiences and performers with its freshness and daring. The diversity that Charpentier himself held to be essential to excellent music is at the core of his own works.

A-R's series of Recent Researches in Music of the Baroque Era includes editions of almost every kind of music that Charpentier composed. This prolific composer wrote sacred music, various pieces for the theater, and chamber music. A-R's catalog includes music in each of these genres edited by noted scholars.

H. Wiley Hitchcock edited the first publication of the 1702 oratorio Judicium Salominis (B 1). It contains an introduction on the context and music of this relatively late composition, along with an English translation of the full text. This oratorio, or historiae, as the composer called this work, concerns the Bible story of the judgment of Solomon and was written for the convening of the French Parlement under Louis XIV.

John S. Powell's collection of Vocal Chamber Music (B 48) contains various shorter vocal ensembles by Charpentier. These are essentially occasional pieces with affinities to various styles and genres. The editor has provided an introduction, critical apparatus, and complete texts and translations for the seven works in this edition.

Powell has also edited a selection of Charpentier's Music for Molière's Comedies (B 63), which includes various pieces for La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas, Le Mariage forcé, Le Sicilien, and Le Malade imaginaire. This volume contains full texts and translations and an extensive introduction about the context in which Charpentier composed this music.

Finally, Nine Settings of the Litanies de la Vierge (B 72), edited by David C. Rayl, is a complete critical edition of all the "Litany of Loreto" settings (H. 82 through H. 90) that Charpentier composed. The introduction gives a thorough discussion of this unique set of pieces for various combinations of voices and instruments.