Choral Concert: Music of the French Baroque

Wilton’s own Music on the Hill presents an exquisite choral experience that will include the rarely performed works of French Baroque composer Marc Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704), including his “Te Deum,” “Regina Caeli,” and “Messe a 8 voix et 8 violons et flutes.” The festival and chamber choruses of Music on the Hill will be joined by organ, trumpets, strings and timpani in the acoustically rich and resonant church sanctuary.

It will be a special afternoon of music, inspired by the lovely gardens and buildings of the Palais de Versailles, where many of these musical gems were composed and/or originally performed in Charpentier’s lifetime. Living at virtually the same time as the Sun King, Louis XIV (1638-1715), Charpentier and his music are representative of a distinctive era in French history, when absolute monarchy reigned, and France was widely recognized for its rich, indulgent and breath-taking culture and arts–many say the greatest in French history.