Early Music Rocks with Charpentier!

4/5/2019

.Triumphal trumpets surprised us; kettle drums stirred us. It was the Te Deum by 17th c. French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier--a glorious piece of music. I heard it Saturday March 29th at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach. It was the centerpiece of an Early Music Concert beautifully conducted by John Weatherspoon (conductor/artistic director of the expressivosingers.com).

Early Music Concert in the DeSantis Family Chapel featuring Chapentier's Te Deum (March 29, 2019)

There were echoes of Handel in this glorious piece of music. But rather than religious overtones, Charpentier's famous polyphonic motet sounded secular, at least to my ears. That may have reflected the fact that many believe it was composed to celebrate a French military victory--the Battle of Steenkirk in August, 1692. Three hundred years later this composition still stirs minds and souls!
Palm Beach Atlantic University

1 Comment

John Weatherspoon link

4/9/2019 07:34:49 pm

Thank you so much April. We appreciate your review. If your readers would like to hear us in concert, they may go to our webpage and click on our CONCERTS tab. We enjoyed this performance of Charpentier’s Te Deum with the Early Music Festival at PBAU. Thank you again for being there.

CALENDAR
Fall Update to come

Dear Culture Lover:
Art and music nourish our souls and imagination. So it is fortunate for those living on the Gold Coast of Florida that we have so much music and art around us--all year long.

But sometimes the problem is just finding out where it is. Where can you find "the best" of these genres? If that's what you are thinking, you've come to the right place. I cover local and global art, classical music, and traditional jazz. Come here to read my reviews and recommendations.

Sincerely,
April
June 4, 2019

NOTE: April has a talent for life drawing and sketching; she is the daughter of two professional artists, and has been writing about art since she reviewed modern Chinese art when living in Taiwan.