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Charpentier - Te Deum in D Major: Prelude (Marche en rondeau)

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Marc-Antoine Charpentier composed his grand polyphonic motet Te Deum (H. 146) in D major probably between 1688 and 1698, during his stay at the Jesuit Church of Saint-Louis in Paris, where he held the position of musical director. The work is written for the group of soloists, choir, and instrumental accompaniment.
Charpentier authored six Te Deum settings, although only four of them have survived. It is thought that the composition have been performed to mark the victory celebrations and the Battle of Steinkirk in August, 1692.

After the work's rediscovery in 1953 by the musicologist Carl de Nys, the instrumental prelude, Marche en rondeau, was chosen in 1954 as the theme music preceding the broadcasts of the European Broadcasting Union. After over sixty years of use notably before the popular Eurovision Song Contest, the prelude, as arranged and directed by Louis Martini and Guy Lambert, has become Charpentier's best-known work.
The prelude was also used for the introduction of the Olympiad films by Bud Greenspan.
Category
Classical
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