Louis-Nicolas Clérambault, famed for his organ pieces and cantatas, was a major composer at the end of the reign of Louis XIV and during the youth of Louis XV. He was noticed by Louis XIV, who appointed him Superintendent of Music for Madame de Maintenon from 1710, and then for the Royal House of Saint Cyr from 1714. He composed a wide variety of works, culminating in his 1743 cantata The Freemasons, the values of whom he was the first to champion in French musical circles.

His grandiose Te Deum magnifies royal glory, in the tradition of Lully and Lalande Here, it is brought together with the famous Missa Assumpta est Maria by his elder Marc-Antoine Charpentier, as well as Story of the Adulterous Woman, Clérambault’s only known oratorio. The work is based on the canons of the 17th-century Roman oratorio, shaped in particular by Carissimi. Clérambault successfully fused French and Italian tastes, blending the declamatory French style with ultramontanist structural elements.

Reinoud van Mechelen has fallen in love with this uncommon composer. The Belgian countertenor and conductor is continuing his Baroque journey with these large-scale works, marking the first collaboration between his ensemble a nocte temporis and the prestigious Chamber Choir of Namur, recorded for the Château de Versailles Spectacles label.

Co-produced by the Royal Opera / Château de Versailles Spectacles and A Nocte Temporis.

Recording release concert.

This program will be recorded on a CD to be released on the Château de Versailles Spectacles label.

Louis-Nicolas Clérambault (1676-1749)

Histoire de la Femme adultère

Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704)

Missa Assumpta est Maria H. 11

Intermission

Louis-Nicolas Clérambault

Te Deum

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