It seems peculiar that so little of Charpentier's music was printed during his lifetime. Fortunately, soon after his death a large part of his manuscripts came into the possession of the "Bibliothèque du Roi", the institution which was later to form the foundation of the National Library. There Charpentier's works have reposed for almost 250 years and have only become noticed again within the last few decades. Today we recognize in him perhaps the greatest French musician of the 17th century, hi...