Charpentier, Marc-Antoine
(1634–1704)> COMPOSER
Charpentier, Marc-Antoine (1634, Paris; 24 February 1704, Paris), composer, left his native city at the age of 15 to study music in Rome under Carissimi. He spent three years in Italy and returned to France to become acquainted with Luigi Rossi and other Italian musicians staying in Paris during the first decade of Louis XIV’s reign. This group of foreign artistes was interested in religious composition, and their preferences led Charpentier to devote his attention to church music rather than…