Charpentier: Te Deum, H. 146 | B'Rock Orchestra, Vox Luminis & Lionel Meunier

With pomp and circumstance: Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s “Te Deum” is a ceremonial hymn of praise – and the first bars of the prelude are a world-famous hit. They’ve served as the signature tune for the Eurovision since 1954. In this concert at the Concertgebouw Brugges in the year 2019, the “Te Deum” is performed by the B´Rock Orchestra on historical instruments. The vocal parts of the piece are performed by the “Vox Luminis” ensemble directed by Lionel Meunier.

(00:00) I. Prélude
(01:34) II. Te Deum laudamus (Sebastian Myrus, baritone)
(02:53) III. Te aeternum Patrem
(04:50) IV. Pleni sunt caeli et terra
(07:01) V. Te per orbem terrarum (Pieter de Moor & Vojtěch Semerád, tenors; Lionel Meunier, bass)
(10:30) VI. Tu devicto mortis aculeo
(11:22) VII. Judex crederis (Sebastian Myrus, baritone)
(11:59) VIII. Te ergo quaesumus (Zsuzsi Tóth, soprano)
(14:26) IX. Aeterna fac cum sanctis
(17:05) X. Dignare Domine (Sebastian Myrus, baritone; Zsuzsi Tóth, soprano; Lionel Meunier, bass; Victoria Cassano, soprano)
(19:19) XI. Fiat misericordia tua (Lionel Meunier, bass; Zsuzsi Tóth & Victoria Cassano, sopranos)
(21:02) XII: In te, Domine, speravi

The “Te Deum, H. 146” is now the best-known piece by French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704). Charpentier lived at the time of Louis XIV. and also wrote – as well as many other sacred and secular works – many different “Te Deum” compositions. A “Te Deum” is a kind of Baroque hymn of praise. It was extremely popular and usually performed at ceremonial events such as baptisms, weddings, victory celebrations or contract signings. Although Marc-Antoine Charpentier wrote around 550 pieces and was careful to bind and date all the original scores, most of his works were quickly forgotten. But not the prelude to his “Te Deum H. 146”, which has opened programs of the European Broadcasting Union, known as Eurovision, for decades - assuring the piece global fame.

The ”Te Deum” is interpreted by the Belgian B´Rock Orchestra, which specializes in Baroque music and plays on historical instruments, including timpani, lute and flauto traverso. The vocal parts are sung by the Vox Luminis Ensemble, famous for its interpretations of English, Spanish and German Baroque music for voice. Vox Luminis was founded in the year 2004 by the French musician Lionel Meunier, who sings bass in the ensemble himself. The choir appears in varying constellations according to repertoire and has won many prestigious accolades.

B’ROCK ORCHESTRA
Jivka Kaltcheva – CONCERTMASTER
Yukie Yamaguchi – CONCERTMASTER
Marie Haag – VIOLIN
Sara DeCorso – VIOLIN
Rebecca Huber – VIOLIN
David Wish – VIOLIN
Jivka Kaltcheva – VIOLIN
Yukie Yamaguchi – VIOLIN
Manuela Bucher – VIOLA
Marie Haag – VIOLA
David Wish – VIOLA
Rebecca Rosen – BASSE DE VIOLON
Julien Barre – BASSE DE VIOLON
Tom Devaere – VIOLONE
Anne Freitag – FLUTE AND RECORDER
Beniamino Paganini – FLUTE AND RECORDER
Benoît Laurent – OBOE
Stefaan Verdegem – OBOE
Benny Aghassi – BASSOON
Fruzsina Hara – TRUMPET
István Lukács – TRUMPET
Koen Plaetinck – PERCUSSION

VOX LUMINIS
Zsuzsi Tóth – SOPRANO
Victoria Cassano – SOPRANO
Stefanie True – SOPRANO
Amelia Berridge – SOPRANO
Alexander Chance – ALTO
Jan Kullmann – ALTO
Jacob Lawrence – TENOR
Pieter de Moor – TENOR
David Munderloh – TENOR
Vojtěch Semerád – TENOR
Jonathon Adams – BASS
Lionel Meunier – BASS
Sebastian Myrus – BASS

Produced by Evil Penguin Productions
In coproduction with Concertgebouw Brugge
© EuroArts Music International

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