Less materially successful than his Paris contemporary Lully, Marc-Antoine Charpentier nevertheless won considerable esteem. A prolific composer, he wrote extensively for the church and with slightly less fecundity for secular purposes. He was in the service of the Duchesse de Guise and of the Dauphin, and he held important positions at the Jesuit Church of St Louis and later at the Sainte-Chapelle.

Church Music

From a very large number of compositions, the Messe de Minuit pour Noël may be singled out, along with the second of Charpentier’s Te Deum settings, impressively scored for forces that include woodwind, trumpet, timpani and strings.