Early Music Rocks with Charpentier!

.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