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See the other Enigmas: Cessac: 4. Pour la datation de
Quam dilecta H. 167 (1675 ou 1683) ―Tome XVII, cahier
XVIII, f. 12v (PAP-39, Papier F), Circé Circé H. 496 Paper: This work, composed for the spring of 1675, is found in cahier XVIII, which is made entirely of Paper F. (The same paper recurs quite a bit later, in cahiers 27-28. It would be interesting to know whether the staves in those cahiers are printed with the same form as this cahier.) The piece continues into cahier XIX (fol. 13r), which is made entirely of Paper 3, found only in this notebook. Staves: The sheet from cahier XVIII is printed with the form that produced PAP-39. On the other hand, the paper in cahier XIX is printed with the form known as PAP-76. Clefs:
cahier XVIII, fol. 12v, Circé
But with the new notebook (that is, cahier XIX, fol. 13), the handwriting changes.
cahier XIX, fol. 13, Circé
Inferences: It is clear that Charpentier recopied the last part of Circé at a later date, but the paper does not tell us when. The musical hand clearly holds the answer. Quam dilecta H. 167 Paper: This work comes immediately after Circé in cahier XIX. Like the final folios of Circé, it was copied onto the undatable Paper 3. Staves: Like the rest of cahier XIX, the staves on this paper were printed with form PAP-76. Clefs:
Inferences: Tune in, later! I suspect that this puzzle turns around the clefs, but it is still too early in my attempt to solve Enigma 4, to say more than that. In obitum H. 409 Paper: This long work is in cahiers XXXVI-XXXVIII, all made entirely of Paper I. Staves: The staves on this paper are printed with form PAP-26, the same form that printed the staves in cahier 38. Clefs:
cahier XXXVI, fol. 29, In obitum
Inferences: The paper used for In obitum is found in cahier 38 and in cahiers XXXVI-XXXIX. Cahier 38 contains the Luctus in honor of the late Queen; the other cluster of notebooks contain music for the memorial mass in her honor at the Carmelites, December 1683. The musical hand should therefore be the same throughout these five notebooks. Indeed, any aberration would be quite astonishing. Luctus, H. 331 Paper: This lament for the late Queen begins on the first folio of cahier 31. The entire cahier is made of Paper I, the same paper on which O caelestis Jerusalem of cahier 38 (Enigma 3) was copied out. Staves: This paper is printed with the form known as PAP-26. (This same form was used for cahier 38.) Clefs:
cahier 38, fol. 2, Luctus
Inferences: Copied out onto the same paper as In obitum and, like it, memorializing the late Queen, Luctus strengthens the dating of both works: they were written between early August and late-November 1683. The hands on this page, like the hand in In obitum, can serve as a model for Charpentier's musical script of late 1683. TAKEN AS A WHOLE, WHAT DO THE EXAMPLES IN ENIGMA 4 TEACH US? As far as I can tell, Puzzle 4 revolves around a common musical hand that can be dated with great certainty: 1683-84. The task set before us was presented as finding a date for Quam dilecta; but we see that the final pages of Circé (and the otherwise undatable Paper 3) also date from around 1683, as do the In obitum and the Luctus. If that is, in fact, the answer to the puzzle that Catherine Cessac set before us, I would like to carry the matter a bit farther. I would like to propose that Charpentier recopied cahier XIX (which includes the last part of Circé and all of Quam dilecta,) during the early summer of 1683, when he was recuperating from the illness that forced him to withdraw from the competition for royal chapel-master, and that apparently robbed him of the requisite energy to compose anything at all until the Queen's death shook him from his lethargy several months later. Indeed, I have always wondered: "What does a composer do when he is housebound for months and when illness has drained him of his creative energy?" Puzzle 4 seems to provide the answer: For want of something to do, he sorts out his archives, and he recopies messy manuscripts.
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The
treble clef on fol. 12 v (the final page of cahier XVIII) is the one Charpentier
used during the 1670s. Since Circé was created for March 1675,
the musical hand on fol. 12 represents his handwriting
during the first months of 1675. 
Not
surprisingly, the hand is the same as for the final pages of Circé,
which immediately precedes it in cahier XIX. 
The
handwriting on this folio is the same as that in the Luctus (below,
cahier 39, fol. 1). Since there is no reason to believe that In obitum
was recopied, the handwriting on this folio can
serve as a model for Charpentier's musical hand in December 1683.
This
is the same musical hand we find not only in In obitum (above), but
also in O caelestis Jerusalem of Puzzle 3.
This hand is a datable example of Charpentier's writing during the last
half of 1683. 
