Charpentier Section B Style Response Attempt #2

Charpentier was a French composer from the Baroque period. We know this because of the figured bass ("Basso"), played on the lute, that underpins the work. This was used a lot in the Baroque period. There is also the fact that the accompaniment of the piece is string-dominated, not only by the usual violins, but also includes the use of a lute. This prominence given to stringed instruments was introduced in the Baroque period. We can also hear the use of diatonic harmony (the piece is in F# minor, which is emphasised by the Basso playing an octave leap of two F#s in the very first bar, which it continues to do throughout the piece, for example in bars 5, 9 and 13, and also the fact that the violins' melodies land on A, the mediant note of the key, in bars 5 (1st violin) and 9 (2nd violin), which pulls to the tonic). This is probably a Motet, as it is religious (which we can hear in the Latin text, that refers a lot to 'dominum', the master), and it does not include the Mass text, so cannot be from a Mass. It also puts emphasis on the text as it is very syllabic, and so we can hear the words clearly, a common feature of a Motet.
In the opening part of the piece, we get strict imitation by the 2nd violin of the 1st violin. This creates a canon in these first 12 bars. If we look at the melody itself, it is comprised of 4 bars of sequencing, followed by 2 bars of conjunct quaver movement with a wave contour, then a bar where the tonal centre of the piece (F#) is emphasised, because the instrument plays only octave F#s. This is then followed by one bar consisting of the F#, which sustains the clear tonal centre, then a G that is the diminished supertonic of the key, and pulls into the perfect cadence that is comprised of the E# (the leading tone) and finally the F#, the tonic. At bar 13, the 1st violin plays another sequence that starts on A (the mediant note), and thus pulls down to the F# that we get in the third bar of the sequence (bar 15). This sequence is slightly syncopated by the violins (they put emphasis on and hold the quavers that fall on strong beats of the bar (2 and 3)), which is a stylistic feature of the Baroque period.