Méditations

As in the Leçons de Ténèbres that become theatrical in the XVIIIth Century and attract socialite people ; French music reveals a dramaturgy close to the opera. Sometimes, it gets to such a rich harmony and smoothness that the most pious one can be shocked.
This program highlights the pieces written for men voices and continuo at the end of XVIIth Century and the beginning of the XVIIIth. This size of orchestra was appreciated back then for its intimistic dimension : thanks to the possibilities of the spectrum of voices, it can switch from a dark tint to a powerful and luminous one.

This size of orchestra presents a great theatrical dimension because the different voices embody biblical parts (the Soul, Jesus, the Man…) successively.
The Meditations pour le Carême by Charpentier have been saved from forgetfulness by Sébastien de Brossard. This great musician and collector had a very important musical library, with bought or copied sheets. He actually copied the Meditations by Charpentier ; that is the only version that survived. His library was filled with French music, but also by German and Italian music, which he particularly liked. His music is a mix of the different European styles, as « melted tastes » (as Francois Couperin would have said).