Talk:Marc-Antoine Charpentier

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Marc-Antoine Charpentier is related to the Composers WikiProject which has been provided as a place for editors of biographical articles of music Composers and Songwriters to discuss common issues, discover neglected composer articles and exchange ideas. All who are interested are invited to comment and contribute.

[edit] Dates established

The Library of Congress authorities website has a recent citation:

New Grove, 2nd ed. WWW site, Feb. 5, 2002 (Charpentier, Marc-Antoine; b. in or near Paris, 1643; d. Paris, Feb. 24, 1704; the year of Charpentier's birth, long uncertain, has been determined convincingly, if without explicit documentation, by Patricia Ranum (1987)).

Is this sufficient to change the dates? Let me know. FeanorStar7

By all means change. I was using the 1980 New Grove (actually, never did finish writing this article). Thanks! Antandrus 07:52, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] The Two Portraits on the page

The 1682 engraving is the likely portrait of Charpentier as the engraving was made in 1682 and it reflects the actual clothing and wig of the time. Why scholars think it is Charpentier is because in the larger version of the engraving the man is holding a sheet of Charpentier's music, and it is not likely anyone else would be holding his sheet music in this type of portrait. Now, the second painting, if you go to the website about it questions the validity of the portrait or at the very least it is not from Charpentier's period. For example, the clothing and wig style are not from the 1690s. The portrait looks more like a scholar's fashion and hair from 1660s. The age of the man in the portrait and his clothing would not have been Charpentier at that age at that time. Azalea pomp 08:19, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

I am the person who wrote the online page with the "new" watercolor portrait of Charpentier. am replying to Azalea's comments, because they either misquote me, or else they show minimal knowledge of French culture during the period 1670-1700. First of all, I point out that the portrait and wig style are exactly the style shown in portraits of the 1690s (to which I added that the shaved-off moustache likewise represents a change from the style of the 1680s to the style of the 1690s, as exemplified in Louis XIV himself. I also pointed out that the age of the man in the watercolor portrait conforms to Charpentier's age circa 1690, that is, in his late 40s or early 50s (his gaunt features suggest the gravity of an serve illness documented in 1683). Neither clothing nor coiffure suggest the 1660s in any way at all! At least "Azalea" is convinced by the b/w engraving of the composer fully a decade before the watercolor portrait. Actually, I am not "questioning the validity of the portrait" on my website: any scholar will immediately realize that I am about 99% convinced that the watercolor represents Charpentier, but I cannot possibly state it as a fact -- any more than I have ever dared assert that the b/w "Mr. Charpentier" is Marc-Antoine: again, it is circumstantial. But historians are generally convinced, and they can read between the lines. Why is the watercolor on paper from circa 1750? The most likely --- but of course unprovable --- reason is that for his personal gallery of illustrious musicians, someone had a series of portraits done from "authentic" representations.To summarize: the watercolor of the mid-18th century is a later copy of an existing portrait painted in the 1690s (witness the hair and the age of the composer), almost certainly from an oil painting of the composer owned by his sister (and inherited by his nephew in 1709): family portraits, without the name of a specific person, are mentioned in the sister's death inventory. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.247.22.45 (talk • contribs)