French Baroque Magic: Charpentier's Missa Assumpta est Maria

Description

Anyone who deals with Marc-Antoine Charpentier will sooner or later come across an astonishing peculiarity of his works: They are not carved in stone. The composer, who from 1698 served as Maître de musique at the Paris Sainte-Chapelle, did not write for eternity but for the occasion. And there were various occasions. Sometimes a large ensemble was ready, sometimes only a handful of singers and instrumentalists. Charpentier responded to this with a naturalness that has become unfamiliar to us today: He expanded small motets when the means allowed, and reduced large works when circumstances demanded. This is exactly where the concert begins. The singers and musicians under the direction of Martin Gester pick up the trail and dare an experiment based on previous experiences with Charpentier's vast oeuvre: What happens to this music when it is stripped of its grand attire? Eight singers engage in dialogue with an instrumental ensemble of two flutes, two violins, two violas da gamba, bass viol, theorbo, and organ. Solos and tutti alternate, voices and instruments respond to each other. It is an attempt to listen to familiar music as if hearing it for the first time.

Highlights

• Performance of Charpentier's Missa Assumpta est Maria
• Ensembles Voces Suaves and Ad Fontes
• Experimental reinterpretation with variable ensemble

General Information

The concert takes place at the Evangelical-Reformed Peterskirche in Basel and is dedicated to the music of Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Under the direction of Martin Gester, the Missa Assumpta est Maria is presented in a new light, with solos and tutti alternating in a dialogue with a small instrumental ensemble.

Location

Peterskirchplatz 4, 4051 Basel, Switzerland

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