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French composer of operas, masses, and songs, admired for the elegant
structure of his compositions. Charpentier was born in Paris and for
several years he studied music in Italy, where he was inspired by
Italian composer Giacemo Carissimi. Charpentier returned to Paris in
the early 1670s, where he worked with French playwrights
Molière
and Pierre Corneille on music for several theater productions. There
was much rivalry and disagreement between Charpentier and Italian-born
French composer Jean Baptiste Lully, who, as the official composer to
King Louis XIV, dominated music at court, especially in the realm of
theatrical and operatic composition. Beginning in 1679, Charpentier
composed music for the private masses of the Dauphin (the king's eldest
son). In the 1680s he was composer and musical director to the Princess
of Guise. In 1698 he was made director of music at the king's private
chapel, Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. Today the work by Charpentier most
often heard is a joyful Te Deum with festive trumpets, probably
composed in the early 1690s.
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