The Ranums' Panat Times
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See the other Enigmas: Cessac: 3. Pour discuter les
datations données par J. Gosine pour les tomes XI et VI Josue, H. 404 Paper: Most of cahier 34 is made of Paper H, which also appears in cahiers XXXI and XXXII. Since cahier XXXI contains a work performed in July 1681 (Endymion), that cahier can be dated with considerable certainty. As for cahier 34, the chronological flow of the notebooks suggests that it too dates from 1681, or perhaps early 1682. On the other hand, the outer sheets of cahier 34 (fols 22-24 and their other half, fols 39-41) are made of Jesuit Paper, as in the illustration of cahiers 34 and 35, below. Staves: This paper of the outer sheet is hand-ruled. The rest of the cahier is on paper with printed staves made by form PAP-83. Clefs: The C-clefs on the outer sheet of Jesuit Paper (fol. 24v) have the double vertical line on the left that is found in Charpentier's manuscripts of the 1690s:
cahier 34, fol. 24v, Josue
cahier 34, fol. 25r, Josue
Inferences: Once again we find Charpentier recopying the outer sheet or sheets of a notebook during his tenure with the Jesuits, presumably to replace damaged pages, although the possibility of revisions during the copying process certainly cannot be ruled out. Judging from the position of cahier 34 in the chronological flow of the Mélanges, and from the flow of the papers in the two series of notebooks, the inner pages of cahier 34 can be presumed to date from 1681-82. For this repair to Josue, Charpentier used hand-ruled Jesuit Paper, rather than Jesuit Paper with printed staves. Paratum cor meum H. 183 Paper: This work occupies the other halves of the folded sheets of Jesuit Paper onto which those later pages of Josue were copied out. This explains why fols 39-41 were written with the same mature hand that copied out the first pages of Josue. With cahier 35 (and the first page of Psalmus David nonagesimus primus, H. 185), the hand of the early 1680s (which we see in the bulk of Josue, 1681 or 1682) returns. The papers in these adjacent notebooks are illustrated here:
In other words, Josue, Paratum cor meum, and Psalmus David were all written in 1681 or 1682; but during the 1690s Charpentier recopied the outer pages of cahier 34. Hence the different musical hand. Staves: The printed staves on fol. 40 are, of course, identical to those on fol. 24v, because these pages are actually two halves of a single sheet of paper. Clefs:
The C-clefs on the fol. 40, the final page of Paratum cor meum, are the relatively late ones with the double vertical line that we see on fol. 24v of Josue, above. That should not surprise us: this is the other half of that single sheet of paper.
cahier 34, fol. 40, Paratum cor meum
Then, on the first sheet of cahier 35 (fol. 42), we see this hand in Psalmus David nonagesiumus primus ("Bonus est..."), H. 185. It is not surprising that this musical hand is the very same one we see above, on fol. 25r of Josue. In other words, this is yet another datable set of clefs: 1681-82.
cahier 35, fol. 42, Psalmus David...
Inferences: Once again we find replaced outer pages. Although it is possible that this recopying led to revisions, it is difficult to argue that the date when Paratum cor meum was composed is uncertain. The works in cahiers 34 and 35 clearly were composed in 1681-82. Domine salvum H. 291 Paper: This composition is on fol. 59 of cahier 36, which is made entirely of Paper G. Between 1680 and 1682 this paper appears sporadically in both series of notebooks in the Mélanges. (For example, two sheets of this paper are to be found in cahier XXIII, which contains music for 1679-80.) Staves: This page was printed by form PAP-26. Clefs:
cahier 36, fol. 59, Domine salvum
Inferences: This sheet of paper was used by Charpentier in 1682, so the clefs on this page provide a datable example of the composer's hand that year. Perhaps the most revealing detail about this element of the puzzle is that the staves on this page (PAP-26) are the same as those on fol. 19 of cahier 38; but the papers are different. In other words, within the space of approximately one calendar year, an unidentified printer used both Paper I and Paper G. O caelestis Jerusalem H. 252 Paper: This work begins in cahier 38, which is made entirely of Paper I, and it continues into cahier 39 (the first page of which is fol. 20). Cahier 39 is made entirely of Jesuit Paper. We shall see, in Puzzle 4, that Charpentier used this paper for his mass in memory of the Queen, celebrated in December 1683, and for another work in her honor, the Luctus that appears to have been performed in August 1683. In fact, O caelestis comes only ten pages after the Luctus. It is therefore evident that the works in cahiers 38 and 39 date from the second half of 1683 or the first months of 1684; and that a decade later, while he was working for the Jesuits, Charpentier recopied the original cahier 39. Staves: The paper in cahier 38 has printed staves made with form PAP-26. The paper for fol. 20, cahier 39 (the Jesuit Paper), has hand-drawn staves. Clefs: The difference is obvious between the C-clefs on fol. 19v
(the final page of cahier 38) and those on fol. 20 (the first page of cahier 39). Cahier 38 almost certainly dates from 1683. The clefs on fol. 19v of cahier 38 therefore provide a datable example of Charpentier's musical hand in late 1683.
cahier 38, fol. 19, O caelestis Jerusalem
O caelestis Jerusalem concludes in cahier 39, the notebook made of Jesuit Paper. Here the C-clefs have the double vertical line to the left that is associated with the mid-1690s, when Charpentier worked for the Jesuits. This sudden shift in handwriting in the middle of this piece becomes understandable, when we know that the end of the piece was recopied.
cahier 39, fol. 20, O caelestis Jerusalem
Inferences: The works in cahier 38 date from 1683, and the same is almost certainly true for the contents of cahier 39, recopied during Charpentier's years with the Jesuits. Hence the abrupt shift to a more mature hand that occurs at the break between one notebook and the next. Modifications during the recopying process cannot, of course, be ruled out. This time the Jesuit Paper he used does not have printed staves. Dixit Dominus, H. 190 Paper: This work immediately followed O caelestis Jerusalem in cahier 39, which, as we have seen, is made entirely of Jesuit Paper. Staves: The staves are hand-drawn. Clefs:
The C-clef has the double vertical lines to the left that are found in Charpentier's manuscripts from the mid-169s.
cahier 39, fol. 21, Dixit Dominus
Inferences: Looking solely at the paper and the musical clefs, it would be easy to jump to the conclusion that this work was composed in the 1690s. We must always beware of such hasty conclusions, and should examine the position of a piece not only in its notebook, but also in the broader context of the surrounding notebooks. We have, of course, seen that O caelestis Jerusalem, a work from cahier 38 (which was copied out in late in 1683), continues into cahier 39 (which, for unknown reasons, Charpentier recopied onto Jesuit Paper a decade later). In other words, despite the musical hand and the paper, Dixit Dominus almost certainly was composed late in 1683 or early in 1684. Here I want to stray from Cessac's examples, and look at the next notebook, cahier 40, which is also on Jesuit Paper. A new piece begins on the first page of that notebook, and the final piece ends on the final page of the notebook. In the absence of run-on pieces at one end or the other, it is more difficult to assert that cahier 40 contains pieces that were composed in 1684 but recopied in the 1690s. I do, however, believe that to be the case. For, with cahier 41 and its Paper J, we find ourselves in late 1684 and 1685. (Some of the pieces written on this paper can be dated.) Recopied though they later were, the works in cahier 40 fill the chronological gap between early 1684 and 1685, between cahier 39 and cahier 41. Magnificat à 8 H. 74 Paper: This work is in cahier 33, which is made entirely of Jesuit paper. Its chronological position in the Mélanges suggests that it was written late in 1681, shortly before to Josue, above. Staves: The staves on this paper are hand-drawn. Clefs:
cahier 33, fol. 5, Magnificat à huit
Inferences: Once again we encounter recopying done while Charpentier was in the employ of the Jesuits. In this instance, the Jesuit Paper he used is hand-ruled. The Magnificat can, however, be presumed to date from 1681. TAKEN AS A WHOLE, WHAT DO THE EXAMPLES IN ENIGMA 3 TEACH US? Here we have further proof that, during his years with the Jesuits, Charpentier made it a practice to replace the damaged outer sheets of some of the notebooks he had filled a decade or so earlier. Sometimes he recopied an entire notebook. (Could the extent to which this recopying involved revisions be determined from analyzing stylistic details?) It is very revealing that in each case Charpentier put the newly repaired/ newly copied/ newly revised composition back in its original chronological place. We also see that, in a relatively short space of time, an unidentified music-paper printer used a single form to print at least two brands of paper; and we see that the Jesuits did not routinely supply Charpentier with printed music paper.
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By
contrast, the rest of the notebook almost certainly dates from late 1681 or
early 1682. The clefs on cahier 34, fol. 25, can
therefore serve as datable examples of the composer's hand in 1681-82.
These clefs almost
certainly date from 1682. They therefore provide a
datable example of his musical hand in 1682. 
The C-clef has the double vertical lines to the left that are associated with
the mid-1690s.
