NDR Chor / Klaas Stok

Music for Versailles

Everyone knows the first bars of Charpentier’s »Te Deum«: it is the secret European anthem. Whenever the European circle of gold stars flickers across the TV screen, this melody can be heard in the background. The work was originally written as a tribute to Louis XIV: the Sun King gathered the best artists of the day around him and used them to glorify himself.