Te Deum (Charpentier)

Te Deum is probably the best-known work of Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It sets the Te Deum in music. It is a Grand Motet, and is written in D major. It is a motet for soloists, choir, and orchestra. It was written to be peformed for the court of Louis XIV, towards the end of the 17th century. At the time, Charpentier was Kapellmeister at the Church Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis in Paris; he was responsible for the music that was played there. The Te Deum was probably composed to commemorate the Battle of Steenkerque of 1692, or the Treaty of Turin, of 1695. After the Second World War, the European Broadcasting Union selected the first eight measures of the prelude to serve as jingle for Eurovision.

Charpentier probably wrote six different versions of the Te Deum. Four of these are still known. The best known is H.146, There is H.145 for eight voices, H.147 and H.148 for four voices each.