M.-A. Charpentier’s <i>In honorem Sancti Ludovici Regis Galliae Canticum</i> (H. 365): A Case Study in Chronology and Rhetoric

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Bergin, Patrick Michael, Jr.
Language:	English
Published:	The Ohio State University / OhioLINK 2012
Subjects:	Music Religion
Online Access:	http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1339872776

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spelling	ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-osu13398727762021-08-03T06:05:47Z M.-A. Charpentier’s <i>In honorem Sancti Ludovici Regis Galliae Canticum</i> (H. 365): A Case Study in Chronology and Rhetoric Bergin, Patrick Michael, Jr. Music Religion <p>Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704) composed several motets in honor of Saint Louis IX, king of France (1214-70) over the course of his career. <i>In honorem Sancti Ludovici Regis Galliae Canticum</i> (H. 365) stands out among these for its exceptional length, grandeur, and evocative musical rhetoric. The text of this <i>grand motet</i>, which focuses principally on the events surrounding the Seventh Crusade, draws extensively on the Vulgate, using quotations and paraphrases to highlight parallels between Saint Louis and biblical figures. An exegetical examination of this text provides a foundation for an examination of musical rhetoric.</p><p>The piece seems most likely to have been composed for a liturgical or paraliturgical event on or close to Pentecost in the early 1690s and used for such an event several years later. This conclusion is supported by the work of other scholars on watermarks, the composer’s handwriting characteristics, and adjacent pieces in the autograph score. A hypothetical specific occasion, based on external documentary evidence and textual themes, is less certain. Establishing date and provenance is complicated by the existence of two versions of the piece in Charpentier’s own hand.</p><p>Several scholars have published studies of musical rhetoric in Charpentier’s music according to <i>Figurenlehre</i> or <i>dispositio</i> models. Jonathan Gibson’s recent work has argued against such approaches, which seem to have been foreign to the French way of thinking in the seventeenth century; he proffers an approach grounded on contemporaneous French aesthetics. C. Jane Gosine has productively applied elements of Jesuit spirituality to an analysis of text expression in Charpentier’s works. The combination of these approaches, along with discussions of text expression through traditional topoi and Charpentier’s own statements on key feelings—thus, a combination of the analytic interests and techniques of our own time with the aesthetic and expressive interests of late seventeenth-century France— results in a more nuanced understanding of the composer’s musical vocabulary. The exegetical study of the text is a new approach to Charpentier’s music and musical rhetoric.</p><p>The motet’s central air, “Certamen forte,” is a focal point of the piece. The Cartesian passions (along with selective reference to key feelings and Latin text-setting) provide an approach to understanding its internal contrasts. Analysis of text expression helps to reveal the preceding chorus, Italianate aria, and reprise of the chorus as a climactic moment in its own right. These adjacent contrasting passages, the dark “Certamen forte” and the bright three-movement complex preceding it, stand as the expressive centerpiece of the motet. Our motet thus features two distinct halves—the former with clear divisions between movements, the latter with textually, texturally, and tonally linked movements—surrounding the motet’s pivot point: an air that is the emotional high-point. This notion of large-scale form does not rely on classical <i>dispositio</i>; rather, it grows out of an understanding of the text and music of the individual piece, analyzed according to the techniques explored here.</p> 2012-07-19 English text The Ohio State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1339872776 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1339872776 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection	NDLTD
language	English
sources	NDLTD
topic	Music Religion
spellingShingle	Music Religion Bergin, Patrick Michael, Jr. M.-A. Charpentier’s <i>In honorem Sancti Ludovici Regis Galliae Canticum</i> (H. 365): A Case Study in Chronology and Rhetoric
author	Bergin, Patrick Michael, Jr.
author_facet	Bergin, Patrick Michael, Jr.
author_sort	Bergin, Patrick Michael, Jr.
title	M.-A. Charpentier’s <i>In honorem Sancti Ludovici Regis Galliae Canticum</i> (H. 365): A Case Study in Chronology and Rhetoric
title_short	M.-A. Charpentier’s <i>In honorem Sancti Ludovici Regis Galliae Canticum</i> (H. 365): A Case Study in Chronology and Rhetoric
title_full	M.-A. Charpentier’s <i>In honorem Sancti Ludovici Regis Galliae Canticum</i> (H. 365): A Case Study in Chronology and Rhetoric
title_fullStr	M.-A. Charpentier’s <i>In honorem Sancti Ludovici Regis Galliae Canticum</i> (H. 365): A Case Study in Chronology and Rhetoric
title_full_unstemmed	M.-A. Charpentier’s <i>In honorem Sancti Ludovici Regis Galliae Canticum</i> (H. 365): A Case Study in Chronology and Rhetoric
title_sort	m.-a. charpentier’s <i>in honorem sancti ludovici regis galliae canticum</i> (h. 365): a case study in chronology and rhetoric
publisher	The Ohio State University / OhioLINK
publishDate	2012
url	http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1339872776
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M.-A. Charpentier’s <i>In honorem Sancti Ludovici Regis Galliae Canticum</i> (H. 365): A Case Study in Chronology and Rhetoric

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