Franois Couperin

François Couperin (born Paris November 10, 1668September 12, 1733 in Paris) was an esteemed French composer in the Baroque style. He was also known as 'Couperin le Grand' i.e. the Great, to distinguish him from the other talented members of the Couperin family, due to his immense virtuosity on the organ and the harpsichord. Couperin was first taught by his father and in 1685 became organist at Saint Gervais, Paris, a post he passed on to his cousin Nicolas Couperin. Other members of the family would hold the same position in later years. In 1717, Couperin became the court organist and composer, and gave weekly "concerts" for King Louis XIV. Many of these "concerts", as the titles read, were in the form of suites for violin, viol, oboe, bassoon, and harpsichord of which he was a virtuoso player. His four volumes of harpsichord music contain over 230 individual pieces, which can be played on solo harpsichord or performed as small chamber works. These greatly influenced J.S. Bach and then much later Richard Strauss, as well as Maurice Ravel who memorialized him with Le Tombeau de Couperin (French for "The Tomb of Couperin"). His most famous book, L'Art de toucher le clavecin (published in 1716), contained executions for fingerings, touch, ornamentation and other features of keyboard technique. It is said to have had a great influence on J.S. Bach. Many of Couperin's keyboard pieces have evocative picturesque titles and express a mood through key choices, adventurous harmonies and (resolved) discords. These features attracted Richard Strauss, who orchestrated some of them. Couperin acknowledged his debt to Corelli, whose trio sonata form Couperin introduced to French music. The title of Couperin's grand trio sonata, by which it is best known, is 'The Apotheosis of Corelli' ('l'Apothéose de Corelli'). He tried to mix Italian and French styles in a set of pieces he gave the title les Gots runis (the united tastes).

Instrumental works

please wait I'm translating and adapting from French
  • for the harpsichord :
Matre incontest du clavecin, Franois Couperin plie la suite de danses sa sensibilit potique, en s'cartant de plus en plus, au fil de ses 4 recueils, de la structure classique Allemande - Courante - Sarabande - Gigue . Il n'utilise d'ailleurs pas le nom de suite mais celui d'"ordre".
    • First book (1713) : Ordres 1 to 5
    • Second book (1717) ; Ordres6 to 12
    • Third book (1722) : Ordres 13 to 19
    • Fourth book(1728) : Ordres20 to 27
    • A didactc treatise L'Art de toucher le clavecin (1716) which includes 8 preludes and an allemande.
  • for the organ : two mass settings (1690)
    • Messe pour les paroisses for the parishes
    • Messe pour les couvents for the monasteries
  • trio sonatas (ca. 1690)
    • La Pucelle
    • La Steinkerque
    • La Visionnaire
    • L'Astre
  • quatuor sonata (ca. 1695) : La Superbe
  • Les Nations (1726) : these trio pieces are formed by a sonata followed by a suite
    • La Franaise (dbute par la Pucelle)
    • L'Espagnole (dbute par la Visionnaire)
    • L'Impriale
    • La Pimontaise (dbute par l'Astre)
  • Apothoses , trio suites (1724)
    • Le Parnasse ou l'apothose de Corelli
    • Concert en forme d'apothose la mmoire de l'incomparable M. de Lully
  • Nouveaux Concerts or les Gots runis (1724) N 5 14
  • Pices de violes (1728) 2 suites
Couperin, Franois Couperin, Franois Couperin, Franois Couperin, Franois Couperin, Franois

 

<< PreviousWord BrowserNext >>
leiolepis
maria shriver
uromastyx
manticore
biogenesis
acedia
hugh gregg
gyeongin
castleton
hope, derbyshire
hathersage
library instruction
library of congress classification:class p, subclass ph uralic and basque languages
command and general staff college
meldrim thomson, jr.
ludography
siege of leningrad
silambam nillaikalakki
belisario betancur
john warner
snare technique
corrado cardinal bafile
advanced mallet techniques
british subject
library of congress classification:class p, subclass pn general literature
spam jam
fluid ounce
ragnvald a. nestos
richard payne knight
calendar girls
alamos
the nigger of the 'narcissus'
2048
2049
chebyshev filter
peace orchestra
nigel havers
woodlark
rwm
help desk humor
phpslash
south saskatchewan river
keil do amaral
ilm kreis