Litanies de la Vierge · Eglise Saint-Exupère, Toulouse

For nearly twenty years, Charpentier lived at the Hôtel de Guise in Paris. He arrived there in the early 1670s, shortly after his stay in Rome, and left only on the death of Mademoiselle de Guise in 1688. Marie de Lorraine was the last family member to bear the Guise name. She was the granddaughter of Henri de Lorraine, Duc de Guise, known as Le Balafré (Scarface), one of the organisers of the Catholic League. Suspected of conspiracy by Richelieu, his son Charles de Lorraine was forced into exile. From 1631 to 1643, he lived in Florence with his family. As a guest at the sumptuous receptions given by the Medici, young Marie formed her musical tastes through listening to the oratorios of Gagliano and Conti, the Medici household musicians. Born on August 15, she was deeply devoted to the Virgin Mary, an attachment strengthened by the pilgrimage she made to Loreto, near Ancona, before returning to Paris. The singing of the Litany of the Blessed Virgin made a strong impression on her, an emotion she must have felt once more on hearing the setting Charpentier presented to. her some forty years later.

There had been a long tradition of patronage in the Guise family. But music was the chief enthusiasm of Marie de Lorraine, whose generosity was universally acknowledged. As soon as Charpentier came to stay in Paris mansion, she began accommodate other musicians too. In the mid-1680s the ensemble expanded to include around fifteen members.