Hervé Niquet
and Le Concert Spirituel released their
first Charpentier CDs on Naxos. These
were very well received, especially
as Niquet displayed a penchant for mining
some of Charpentier’s lesser known works
(such as the Te Deum, H147). The group’s
more recent recordings have been on
the Spanish label Glossa and they have
now issued them as a handsome 3 CD boxed
set; albeit with the rather incongruous
title of ‘Charpentier!’.
The first disc starts
with the well known Te Deum together
with the trumpet flourishes which were
intended to precede it. This Te Deum,
Charpentier’s grandest, was probably
written to celebrated the victory of
the Marshal of Luxembourg at Steinkerque
(Belgium) in 1692; it is one of six
surviving Te Deum settings by Charpentier.
Niquet accompanies it with three of
Charpentier’s motets, one of his Dixit
Dominus settings from around 1688, a
motet in honour of St. Louis which dates
from 1693 and a little motet exhorting
God to save the King.
Niquet’s performances
of Charpentier with Le Concert Spirituel
are generally characterised by their
liveliness. Niquet uses quite small
forces, which emphasises the chamber
nature of much of Charpentier’s writing,
even in his grandest works. Niquet’s
version of the Te Deum is one of the
bounciest that I have heard. Crisp and
lively playing from the instrumentalists
emphasises the work’s dance-like qualities
in a charming way. The faster sections
are taken with remarkable speed and
dexterity, but never feel rushed and
they contrast admirably with the slower
movements.
The choir of just thirteen
singers is admirably secure and stylish.
Soloists are chosen from the choir (and
not named in the booklet, which is a
little frustrating) and though they
sing with great style, some lack a little
focus.
For the next disc,
the substantial Messe de Monsieur de
Mauroy, we get a little more information
and the soloists are credited. The mass
is a substantial work lasting some 65
minutes and dates from 1691. It is a
long, expansive work; austere rather
than grand, it uses soli, four-part
choir, and a small instrumental group.
As was the way at the time, certain
movements are supplied by the grande
orgue rather than sung and Charpentier
specifies for these, such as the Introit
and the Offertory, to be improvised
at the organists pleasure. This Michel
Chapuis does magnificently.
The mass is not a showy
work and but its subtle charm is well
caught by Niquet’s forces. Niquet’s
control of tempo and style is apposite
and the work unfolds in a manner which
enthrals without seeming to rush nor
to over-stay its welcome.
The final disc in the
set includes some of Charpentier’s loveliest
music, the Leçons de Ténèbres.
Over a period of 20 years Charpentier
composed over thirty Leçons de
Tenebres but much of this music is lost.
The texts, drawn mainly from the Lamentations
of Jeremiah, are interspersed with melismatic
settings of the Hebrew letters. A particular
style of setting these lessons developed
in France at the period, developed by
Lambert, Charpentier and Couperin.
Le Concert Spirituel
perform the surviving part, the Third
Lesson, from the cycle of lessons written
in 1692. The six singers (two counter-tenors,
two tenors and two basses) make a wonderful,
rich sound and create a very relaxed
feel to the pieces. The solos are not
always performed to perfection, but
the whole performance has a natural
feel, all the performers are well into
the style.
The Leçons de
Ténèbres are accompanied
by five meditations for Holy Week. They
were written somewhere between 1680
and 1690 and their exact function is
unclear. They could be a single work,
or they could have been used to provide
meditations on sermons, in the way of
Haydn’s ‘Seven Last Words’. Whatever
their original use, they are beautiful
and haunting works and their atmosphere
is aptly caught by Niquet and his team.
Whilst you might already have the Tenebrae
pieces in your collection, this quintet
of works is well worth hearing.
These 3 CDs mix Charpentier’s
better known pieces with some of his
works which deserve to be better known.
I can highly recommend these recordings
and if you want to fill in some gaps
by acquiring the Mass and the Meditations,
then I can highly recommend the performances
of the Te Deum and the Tenebrae Lessons
as well. I have only one small complaint.
The beautifully laid out booklet contains
an extended essay of such floweriness
that it is difficult to extract concrete
information from it; and if you want
texts then you will have to go on-line
and download them from Glossa’s web
pages.
Robert Hugill
Michel Chapuis (grand orgue) 
