November 5, 2012. François Couperin, or Couperin le Grand, the great French Baroque composer, was born in Paris on November 10, 1668 during the reign of Louis XIV the Sun King.François was born into a family of musicians (his uncle was a famous composer of his day).His talents became apparent from a very early age.His father was his first music teacher, and he inherited the position of the organist of the church of St-Gervais after his father’s death.The church, not far from the Hôtel de Ville, is one of the oldest in Paris, and the organ that Couperins played is still there today.In 1717 he entered the service of Louis XIV as an organist and composer.Even though his major works were written for the harpsichord, he was never given the title of the harpsichordist to the King.At the court, he gave weekly concerts, mostly of his own music: the “suites” for string and wind instruments and the harpsichord.
As we mentioned, Couperin’s major works were written for the harpsichord.In 1717 he published L'art de toucher le clavecin (The Art of Playing the Harpsichord).He wrote it to instruct musicians in harpsichord playing so that they could perform, among other things, his own compositions.Here is the famous Le Tic-Toc-Choc, from Book III of Pièces de clavecin, transcribed to the modern piano.It is performed – insanely fast – by the Hungarian piano virtuosos Geroges Cziffra (a live recording from his recital in Strasbourg 19 June 1960, courtesy of YouTube).Some listeners believe that he plays too fast but we think there’s enough music left to make it very interesting.Altogether Couperin published four books of harpsichord music, 230 pieces altogether.This music influenced Johann Sebastian Bach, and, much later, Richard Strauss, who in 1940 wrote a charming Divertimento for small orchestra (after François Couperin's keyboard works), Op. 86.Le Tic-Toc-Choc is there, of course, as elegant in this chamber arrangement as it is in the original.For Maurice Ravel Couperin was also a major figure, so much so that he wrote a piano suite Le tombeau de Couperin (Couperin's Memorial).It’s performed here by the pianist Alon Goldstein.
Couperin 2012
November 5, 2012. François Couperin, or Couperin le Grand, the great French Baroque composer, was born in Paris on November 10, 1668 during the reign of Louis XIV the Sun King. François was born into a family of musicians (his uncle was a famous composer of his day).
His talents became apparent from a very early age. His father was his first music teacher, and he inherited the position of the organist of the church of St-Gervais after his father’s death. The church, not far from the Hôtel de Ville, is one of the oldest in Paris, and the organ that Couperins played is still there today. In 1717 he entered the service of Louis XIV as an organist and composer. Even though his major works were written for the harpsichord, he was never given the title of the harpsichordist to the King. At the court, he gave weekly concerts, mostly of his own music: the “suites” for string and wind instruments and the harpsichord.
As we mentioned, Couperin’s major works were written for the harpsichord. In 1717 he published L'art de toucher le clavecin (The Art of Playing the Harpsichord). He wrote it to instruct musicians in harpsichord playing so that they could perform, among other things, his own compositions. Here is the famous Le Tic-Toc-Choc, from Book III of Pièces de clavecin, transcribed to the modern piano. It is performed – insanely fast – by the Hungarian piano virtuosos Geroges Cziffra (a live recording from his recital in Strasbourg 19 June 1960, courtesy of YouTube). Some listeners believe that he plays too fast but we think there’s enough music left to make it very interesting. Altogether Couperin published four books of harpsichord music, 230 pieces altogether. This music influenced Johann Sebastian Bach, and, much later, Richard Strauss, who in 1940 wrote a charming Divertimento for small orchestra (after François Couperin's keyboard works), Op. 86. Le Tic-Toc-Choc is there, of course, as elegant in this chamber arrangement as it is in the original. For Maurice Ravel Couperin was also a major figure, so much so that he wrote a piano suite Le tombeau de Couperin (Couperin's Memorial). It’s performed here by the pianist Alon Goldstein.