Messe pour la Naissance de Louis XIV

Description

In 1638, Louis-Dieudonné, who would become King of France under the name Louis XIV, finally comes into the world. Louis XIII commissions his ambassadors to celebrate the event with grandeur. In Venice, whose commercial vitality dominates Europe, four days of festivities are organized in honor of the Dauphin, culminating in a solemn mass specially composed by Giovanni Rovetta, assistant chapel master to Monteverdi at San Marco, who will succeed him in 1644 and become one of the essential musicians of Venice. Never performed again since its creation, this Mass was restored by Benjamin Chénier in 2015, for the Tricentennial of Louis XIV's death. A grand work, it is typically Venetian with all the splendor characteristic of the spirit of the Most Serene Republic. The Galilei Consort, an ensemble founded by violinist Benjamin Chénier, is dedicated to the restoration of practices and works from 17th-century Italy primarily. These practices stem from the humanist movement personified by Vincenzo Galilei, father of the famous Galileo, who advocates a return to the Greek conception of music, a conception that emphasizes the meaning of the text.