Music and Power at the Court of Louis XIII

Peter Bennett is Associate Professor of Musicology at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland. He previously spent fifteen years working as a harpsichordist, organist, and director, performing and recording to critical acclaim in the UK and Europe.

• Introduction: music, liturgy and power; 1. David's harp, Apollo's lyre: psalms, music and kingship in the sixteenth century; 2. Accession: the coronation, the holy spirit, and the phoenix; 3. The sword of David and the battle against heresy; 4. The penitent king; 5. Pillars of justice and piety: The Entrée, the Te Deum, and the Exaudiat te Dominus; 6. Plainchant and the politics of rhythm: the royal abbey of Montmartre and the royal congregation of the oratory of Jesus Christ; 7. Succession. The vow of 1638 and Christ the king; Epilogue and conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

'How did music project the king's sovereignty in early modern France? Bennett's brilliant new study is the first sustained investigation of sacred music and royal liturgies at the time, one with important ramifications for our understanding of the reign of Louis XIV and the indebtedness of late seventeenth-century court ceremonial to earlier forms. Bennett is an expert liturgist who brings this unjustly neglected period and its music into earshot for scholars from across the disciplines. Impeccably researched and beautifully written, this elegantly illustrated volume makes a major contribution to studies of the ancien régime.' Kate van Orden, Harvard University