Ceremoniał uroczystości pogrzebowych Marii Leszczyńskiej i jego wątki muzyczne
The funeral ceremony of Maria Leszczyńska and its music-related aspects

Summary/Abstract: This article describes the funeral ceremony of Queen Maria Leszczyńska, wife to Louis XV of France, who died on 24 June 1768 and was buried in the Basilica of Saint Denis on 11 August 1768. The author’s account is based on a ceremonial held in the archives of Seine-Saint-Denis department in Bobigny (220J/16/3). The musical setting of the ceremony consisted mainly in liturgical chants, but the document mentions 120 musicians participating in the funeral. They performed the motet De profundis (1740) by Antoine Blanchard (1696–1770), who conducted the performance. No information is given about any instrumental accompaniment. What is more, there is mention of the symbolic silence of some instruments, e.g. the organ. As the coffin was being carried into the basilica, military instruments were played (trumpets, drums, timpani), as well as other instruments not specified in the document.

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