This first programme immerses us in the splendour of the great Parisian ceremonies of the 17^th century, where music magnified faith and the royal figure. Although he never held a formal position at court, Marc-Antoine Charpentier was the preferred composer of powerful religious congregations based in the capital, such as the Jesuits and the Theatines, who combined fervour and pomp to celebrate God and the king.

Alongside the Te Deum H.145 and the Exaudiat H.162, monumental frescoes combining divine praise and royal exaltation, composed around 1672, revised in 1677 in the midst of the Dutch War and then in 1687 on the occasion of Louis XIV's recovery, the Canticum pro pace H.392 will resound. Halfway between a motet and a sacred story, this piece, written around 1676, perhaps to celebrate a French victory during the Dutch War, expresses the aspiration for peace, echoing the peace negotiations that began in Nijmegen in June 1676 and concluded in 1678. The programme will conclude with Domine salvum fac regem H.283, a solemn prayer addressed to God for the protection of the king.

This vibrant music combines spiritual intensity and royal majesty, magnified by the power of the ensemble and the very Roman style of writing, with double choir and double orchestra.