Editions du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles is publishing the fourteenth volume in its monumental collection dedicated to the works of Marc-Antoine Charpentier. This volume, the fifth devoted to the composer’s petits motets, the first volume of the "cycles", is also the first dedicated to the Leçons et répons de Ténèbres.

These works belong to Charpentier’s first creative period. Composed between 1670 and 1680, they are characterised, like Michel Lambert’s Leçons de Ténèbres, by their typically French ornamental style, extremely rich and subtle, reminiscent of the air de cour tradition. These include the famous cycles of the Neuf Leçons de Ténèbres (H.96-98, 102-110) and the Neuf Répons du mercredi saint (H.111-119).

Catherine Cessac describes in detail the very particular context of these works, evoking the singular liturgical ceremonial of Holy Week and its decisive evolution during this period. She studies the links Charpentier weaves between his compositions, noting borrowings, grouping together pieces scattered among manuscripts and proposing various associations between the works. She analyses the numbering, which also reveals important elements of context, and offers performers a commented table to help decipher the rich ornamental language. For performance, the works are presented individually in the form of sets (including instrumental parts), leaving the performer free to combine these works full of tension, virtuosity and spirituality.

Catherine Cessac is director of research at the CNRS. A Charpentier specialist, she has already published several volumes of the monumental edition devoted to him by the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles. She is also the author of several works on the composer. She is currently working on the patronage of the Duchess of Maine, and is involved in multidisciplinary projects combining musicology and literature.