Table of Contents

Contents: Foreword, H. Wiley Hitchcock; Preface; Charting Charpentier's 'worlds' through his Mélanges, Patricia M. Ranum; Charpentier's void notation: the Italian background and its implications, Graham Sadler; The descending minor tetrachord in France: an emblem expanded, Lois Rosow; Repentance, piety and praise: sensual imagery and musical depiction in the petits motets of Marc-Antoine Charpentier, C. Jane Gosine; A question of genre: Charpentier's Messe pour Plusieurs Instruments au lieu des Orgues (H513), David Ponsford; Charpentier's music at court: the singers and instrumentalists of the Chapelle Royale, 1663-1683 and beyond, Anthea Smith; Performance practices at the Théâtre de Guénégaud and the Comédie-Française: evidence from Charpentier's Melanges autographes, John S. Powell; Une source peut en cacher une autre': added preludes and instrumental cues in the Mélanges, Catherine Cessac; The historical implications of a distinctive scoring: Charpentier's 6-voice motets for Mademoiselle de Guise, Théodora Psychoyou; Observations on Charpentier's compositional process: corrections in the Mélanges, Herbert Schneider; Médée within the repertory of the tragédie en musique: intertextual links and the 'posterity' of Charpentier's opera, Benjamin Pintiaux; The nature of fame: reflections on Charpentier's Les Plaisirs de Versailles and Lalande's Les Fontaines de Versailles, Peter Roennfeldt; Charpentier's Motets melêz de Symphonie: a nephew's tribute, Shirley Thompson; Appendix; Bibliography; Indexes.

About the Author

Dr Shirley Thompson is Director of Postgraduate Studies at Birmingham Conservatoire, UK H. Wiley Hitchcock, Patricia M. Ranum, Graham Sadler, Lois Rosow, C. Jane Gosine, David Ponsford, Anthea Smith, John S. Powell, Catherine Cessac, Theodora Psychoyou, Herbert Schneider, Benjamin Pintiaux, Peter Roennfeldt, Shirley Thompson.

Reviews

�All the contributions are worth reading and not unapproachable. ...Thanks particularly to Les Arts Florissants, Charpentier's music is widely circulated on CD, and anyone performing his music would benefit from investigating this excellent publication. (Scholars won't need the commendation.)� Early Music Review '[T]he book makes a significant contribution to Charpentier research.' Notes '... comprehensive and well-edited collection, providing a wealth of background material for music-lovers, performers and musicologists alike.' Early Music '... an important and original volume.' The Consort '... a valuable contribution to Charpentier and his musical world.' Revue de Musicologie