Charpentier, Marc-Antoine : Te Deum H 146

Of the four surviving settings of the Te Deum by Charpentier the present one, H 146, is undoubtedly his most famous work thanks to the television producers who chose its opening prelude to be the Eurovision signature-tune in the early 1950s. The single extant source of this work is book 62 of the Volume X of Charpentiers autograph, Meslanges which was sold to the Bibliothèque Royale (now Bibliothèque Nationale) Paris. The manuscript is extremely clear. All editorial additions are placed in square brackets. (Jean-Paul Montagnier)