Messe de Minuit

If Charpentier found his way back to posterity with the first notes of his Te Deum H.146, chosen to illustrate the credits of the Eurovision programs in the 1950s, the Messe de Minuit is probably the second work that has made him known throughout the world. It is an invitation to immerse oneself in a musical world where scholarly and popular traditions are not opposed, on the contrary: all of Charpentier’s art and science are illustrated in this invitation of these carols within a mass composed for Christmas Eve. These melodies are known to all, peasants as well as gentlemen, who recognize them, interwoven within a subtle counterpoint and a renewed harmony. The pleasure of music is offered to everyone: to recognize a known tune, or to grasp its extraordinary arrangement. The simplicity of the original songs also gives the whole mass a candor and simplicity that is not without depth when one thinks that it spoke universally at the time.

In nativitatem H.416 serves as a vigil before midnight mass: in the manner of Charpentier’s great sacred stories, the work recounts the story of the Nativity where the Angel Gabriel announces to the shepherds the great news of Christ’s birth.

Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Sub tuum praesidium
Or nous dites Marie
Quam gloriosa dicta sunt de te
In nativitatem
Nuit

Sébastien de Brossard
O Miraculum !

Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Messe de Minuit
Joseph est bien marié
Alma redemptoris
Laissez paître vos bêtes
Te Deum