From 1673 to 1686, the musical part composed by Marc-Antoine Charpentier for Molière’s Le Malade imaginaire went through several – at least three – versions, which Charpentier himself distinguished by the comments: "in all its splendour", "after the prohibitions" and "rearranged differently for the 3rd time", sometimes treating the interludes independently. The critical edition, from which this volume is taken, explores these versions in detail.

This off-print includes the entire first state of the score, "in all its splendour", the performance of which now requires 9 singers, a choir in five parts and a small orchestra of flutes and strings (4 parts) and the essential apothecaries' mortars.