Louis Couperin
Encyclopedia
Louis Couperin was a French Baroque
composer
and performer. He was born in Chaumes-en-Brie
and moved to Paris
in 1650–51 with the help of Jacques Champion de Chambonnières
. Couperin worked as organist of the Church of St. Gervais
in Paris and as musician at the court. He quickly became one of the most prominent Parisian musicians, establishing himself as a harpsichord
ist, organist
, and violist, but his career was cut short by his early death at the age of thirty-five.
None of Couperin's music was published during his lifetime, but manuscript copies of some 200 pieces survive, some of them only rediscovered in the mid-20th century. The first historically important member of the Couperin
family, Couperin made seminal contributions to the development of both the French organ school and French harpsichord school. His innovations included composing organ pieces for specific registrations
and inventing the genre of the unmeasured prelude
for harpsichord, for which he devised a special type of notation
.
Most of the information about Couperin's life comes from two sources. Le Parnasse François, a 1732 book by Évrard Titon du Tillet
, contains a biographical sketch describing certain details of his life, and some 30 organ pieces list not only the date but also the place of composition. Couperin was born around 1626 in Chaumes-en-Brie
, a town 40 km south-east of Paris. His father, Charles Couperin, sieur de Crouilly, was a small landowner and part-time organist of a local church. Louis was reportedly an accomplished harpsichordist and violinist by 1650 (and was already composing by then), but had no connections whatsoever with any important musicians of the era. His sudden rise to fame, which happened during 1650–51, is explained in Le Parnasse François. Titon du Tillet writes that Louis, his two younger brothers Charles and François, and some of their friends visited Jacques Champion de Chambonnières
on the feast of Saint James—Chambonnières' name day
. The Couperins offered the host and his guests a short concert, playing several pieces composed by Louis. Chambonnières was impressed by Louis Couperin's talents, became his teacher and persuaded him to settle in Paris. There Chambonnières, who was the most prominent French harpsichordist of his time and musician to the King, introduced the young musician to the Court; Couperin's talents met with appreciation; by 1651 Couperin was already living in the city.
He almost certainly met Johann Jakob Froberger
in 1651–52, Froberger's style becoming a major influence on Couperin's music. On 9 April 1653 he became organist of the Parisian church of St. Gervais
, where he was paid 400 livres a year, plus lodgings. The position at this ancient church was one of the most important ones in France at the time. At some point–most probably after he became organist at St. Gervais–Couperin entered the royal service as a treble viol
player. Titon du Tillet writes that Couperin had refused, out of loyalty to his old friend and teacher, to replace Chambonnières as royal harpsichordist, and so the post of violist was created especially for him. On 22 October 1655 he stood godfather to his sister's child at Chaumes-en-Brie; from July to October 1656 and around November 1658 he was frequently travelling to Meudon
, where he was probably employed by Abel Servien, a diplomat and statesman. He travelled to Toulouse
with the court in 1659. During his last years, Couperin lived in the organist's lodgings at St. Gervais with his two brothers, and died on 29 August 1661, aged thirty-five according to Le Parnasse François.
His brothers both played an important role in the development of French Baroque music. No compositions by François (known as "The Elder" or "Couperin de Crouilly") are known to survive, but his line of the family carried the name of Couperin into the 19th century. Charles Couperin (known as "Couperin-cadet") succeeded Louis as organist at St. Gervais and, in 1668, produced an only child, François Couperin le Grand
, who became one of the most important French composers of the late Baroque era.
In addition to these, the Parville manuscript
contains 55 harpsichord pieces by Couperin, although only five of these are unique (the rest is included in the Bauyn manuscript).
Couperin's harpsichord works are commonly referred to by numbers used in the princeps
Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre
edition of 1936. The edition was based entirely on the Bauyn manuscript, the only source known at that time. The authors of the manuscript did not arrange the pieces in suite
s, but rather grouped dances by key first and by genre second. So, for example, numbers 16–19 are courante
s in C major, numbers 20–25 are sarabande
s in C major, etc. Some editions and recordings may use Davitt Moroney
's alternative numbering scheme, which attempts to create suites out of Couperin's dances.
The numbering scheme for Couperin's organ pieces also reflects their source, the Oldham manuscript. Here, however, no attempt was made by the copyist to group pieces in any way. The manuscript draws on at least two grands livres d'orgue, and the copyist apparently chose pieces arbitrarily. Distinguishing the many fantaisies is made easier, however, because Couperin would frequently provide the date, and sometimes the place of composition in a footnote. Numbers 11 and 19, for instance, are both titled "fugue
", but the former is inscribed "Couperin a Meudon le 18e Juillet [July] 1656", and the latter "Couperin a paris le 1er 7ber [September] 1656". This extraordinary feature, which is completely unique for the period, allows tracing Couperin's development as organ composer from 1650 to 1659, sometimes almost day by day.
Harpsichordist Skip Sempé, as well as a few scholars, have questioned the attribution of both the harpsichord pieces of the Bauyn manuscript and the organ pieces of the Oldham manuscript to Couperin, on stylistic grounds.
s, sarabande
s, allemande
s and gigue
s (in decreasing order of numbers). These pieces are more complex than those by Chambonnières and display more variety within an individual piece. His reputation as a composer comes mainly from his chaconne
s, passacaglia
s and unmeasured prelude
s. These latter pieces, written out in a unique kind of notation (whole notes only, arranged in groups and connected by graceful curves) are influenced by Froberger's free-flowing allemandes and programmatic pieces, some borrow short passages from his toccatas.
vein to the colorful, concertant organ style introduced by Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers
and Nicolas Lebègue
, who influenced late Baroque composers such as François Couperin
and Nicolas de Grigny
. Couperin was the first French composer to write for specific registrations and also the first to compose leaping division basses in the style of divisions for the bass viol. Both of these stylistic traits are among the defining characteristics of French organ music of the 17th and the 18th centuries.
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and performer. He was born in Chaumes-en-Brie
Chaumes-en-Brie
Chaumes-en-Brie is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is best known as the ancient home of the Couperin family of composers and musicians.-External links:* * *...
and moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1650–51 with the help of Jacques Champion de Chambonnières
Jacques Champion de Chambonnières
Jacques Champion de Chambonnières was a French harpsichordist, dancer and composer. Born into a musical family, Chambonnières made an illustrious career as court harpsichordist in Paris and was considered by many of his contemporaries to be one of the greatest musicians in Europe...
. Couperin worked as organist of the Church of St. Gervais
St-Gervais-et-St-Protais Church
The St-Gervais-et-St-Protais Church of Paris sheltered one of the most famous dynasties of French musicians, the Couperin family, for more than two centuries, beginning in 1653....
in Paris and as musician at the court. He quickly became one of the most prominent Parisian musicians, establishing himself as a harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
ist, organist
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
, and violist, but his career was cut short by his early death at the age of thirty-five.
None of Couperin's music was published during his lifetime, but manuscript copies of some 200 pieces survive, some of them only rediscovered in the mid-20th century. The first historically important member of the Couperin
Couperin
The Couperin family were a musical dynasty of professional composers and performers. They were the most prolific family in French musical history, active during the Baroque era...
family, Couperin made seminal contributions to the development of both the French organ school and French harpsichord school. His innovations included composing organ pieces for specific registrations
Registration (organ)
Registration is the technique of choosing and combining the stops of a pipe organ in order to produce a particular sound. Registration can also refer to a particular combination of stops...
and inventing the genre of the unmeasured prelude
Unmeasured prelude
Unmeasured or non-measured prelude is a prelude in which the duration of each note is left to the performer. Typically the term is used for 17th century harpsichord compositions that are written without rhythm or metre indications, although various composers of the Classical music era were...
for harpsichord, for which he devised a special type of notation
Musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-History:...
.
Life
Évrard Titon du Tillet
Évrard Titon du Tillet is best known for his important biographical chronicle, Le Parnasse françois, composed of brief anecdotal vite of famous French poets and musicians of his time, under the reign of Louis XIV and the Régence.- Biography :Of Scottish origin, Évrard Titon du Tillet was the son...
, contains a biographical sketch describing certain details of his life, and some 30 organ pieces list not only the date but also the place of composition. Couperin was born around 1626 in Chaumes-en-Brie
Chaumes-en-Brie
Chaumes-en-Brie is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is best known as the ancient home of the Couperin family of composers and musicians.-External links:* * *...
, a town 40 km south-east of Paris. His father, Charles Couperin, sieur de Crouilly, was a small landowner and part-time organist of a local church. Louis was reportedly an accomplished harpsichordist and violinist by 1650 (and was already composing by then), but had no connections whatsoever with any important musicians of the era. His sudden rise to fame, which happened during 1650–51, is explained in Le Parnasse François. Titon du Tillet writes that Louis, his two younger brothers Charles and François, and some of their friends visited Jacques Champion de Chambonnières
Jacques Champion de Chambonnières
Jacques Champion de Chambonnières was a French harpsichordist, dancer and composer. Born into a musical family, Chambonnières made an illustrious career as court harpsichordist in Paris and was considered by many of his contemporaries to be one of the greatest musicians in Europe...
on the feast of Saint James—Chambonnières' name day
Calendar of saints
The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the feast day of said saint...
. The Couperins offered the host and his guests a short concert, playing several pieces composed by Louis. Chambonnières was impressed by Louis Couperin's talents, became his teacher and persuaded him to settle in Paris. There Chambonnières, who was the most prominent French harpsichordist of his time and musician to the King, introduced the young musician to the Court; Couperin's talents met with appreciation; by 1651 Couperin was already living in the city.
He almost certainly met Johann Jakob Froberger
Johann Jakob Froberger
Johann Jakob Froberger was a German Baroque composer, keyboard virtuoso, and organist. He was among the most famous composers of the era and influenced practically every major composer in Europe by developing the genre of keyboard suite and contributing greatly to the exchange of musical...
in 1651–52, Froberger's style becoming a major influence on Couperin's music. On 9 April 1653 he became organist of the Parisian church of St. Gervais
St-Gervais-et-St-Protais Church
The St-Gervais-et-St-Protais Church of Paris sheltered one of the most famous dynasties of French musicians, the Couperin family, for more than two centuries, beginning in 1653....
, where he was paid 400 livres a year, plus lodgings. The position at this ancient church was one of the most important ones in France at the time. At some point–most probably after he became organist at St. Gervais–Couperin entered the royal service as a treble viol
Viol
The viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...
player. Titon du Tillet writes that Couperin had refused, out of loyalty to his old friend and teacher, to replace Chambonnières as royal harpsichordist, and so the post of violist was created especially for him. On 22 October 1655 he stood godfather to his sister's child at Chaumes-en-Brie; from July to October 1656 and around November 1658 he was frequently travelling to Meudon
Meudon
Meudon is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the département of Hauts-de-Seine. It is located from the center of Paris.-Geography:...
, where he was probably employed by Abel Servien, a diplomat and statesman. He travelled to Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
with the court in 1659. During his last years, Couperin lived in the organist's lodgings at St. Gervais with his two brothers, and died on 29 August 1661, aged thirty-five according to Le Parnasse François.
His brothers both played an important role in the development of French Baroque music. No compositions by François (known as "The Elder" or "Couperin de Crouilly") are known to survive, but his line of the family carried the name of Couperin into the 19th century. Charles Couperin (known as "Couperin-cadet") succeeded Louis as organist at St. Gervais and, in 1668, produced an only child, François Couperin le Grand
François Couperin
François Couperin was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as Couperin le Grand to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented Couperin family.-Life:Couperin was born in Paris...
, who became one of the most important French composers of the late Baroque era.
Works
Provenance and catalogues
Because his career spanned only some 10 years, none of Couperin's works were published during his lifetime. There are two major manuscript sources for his music:- The famous Bauyn manuscriptBauyn manuscriptThe Bauyn manuscript is a manuscript currently in possession of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris...
(Bibliothèque nationale de FranceBibliothèque nationale de FranceThe is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...
, Rés. Vm7 674–675), one of the most important sources for French keyboard music of the 17th century (particularly the work of ChambonnièresJacques Champion de ChambonnièresJacques Champion de Chambonnières was a French harpsichordist, dancer and composer. Born into a musical family, Chambonnières made an illustrious career as court harpsichordist in Paris and was considered by many of his contemporaries to be one of the greatest musicians in Europe...
), contains 122 harpsichord pieces by Couperin, as well as four organ pieces and 5 chamber works. The manuscript dates from c. 1690. - The so-called Oldham manuscript (a private collection of G. Oldham), recovered only in 1957, contains 70 organ works by Couperin, of which 68 are unique. Also included are a harpsichord suite, four five-part chamber fantaisies, and two pieces for shawmShawmThe shawm was a medieval and Renaissance musical instrument of the woodwind family made in Europe from the 12th century until the 17th century. It was developed from the oriental zurna and is the predecessor of the modern oboe. The body of the shawm was usually turned from a single piece of wood,...
band. This manuscript may have been compiled at least partly during Couperin's lifetime, and is the only such source for his music.
In addition to these, the Parville manuscript
Parville manuscript
The Parville manuscript is a manuscript currently in possession of the UC Berkeley Music Library . Along with the Bauyn manuscript, it is one of the most important sources for French harpsichord music of the 17th century.The manuscript was created at around 1670 and discovered in Italy in 1968. The...
contains 55 harpsichord pieces by Couperin, although only five of these are unique (the rest is included in the Bauyn manuscript).
Couperin's harpsichord works are commonly referred to by numbers used in the princeps
Princeps
Princeps is a Latin word meaning "first in time or order; the first, chief, the most eminent, distinguished, or noble; the first man, first person."...
Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre
Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre
Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre is a music publishing company financed and established in Paris in 1932 by Louise Dyer , an Australian pianist and philanthropist....
edition of 1936. The edition was based entirely on the Bauyn manuscript, the only source known at that time. The authors of the manuscript did not arrange the pieces in suite
Suite
In music, a suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment; they may be extracts from an opera, ballet , or incidental music to a play or film , or they may be entirely original movements .In the...
s, but rather grouped dances by key first and by genre second. So, for example, numbers 16–19 are courante
Courante
The courante, corrente, coranto and corant are some of the names given to a family of triple metre dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era....
s in C major, numbers 20–25 are sarabande
Sarabande
In music, the sarabande is a dance in triple metre. The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of quarter notes and eighth notes in alternation...
s in C major, etc. Some editions and recordings may use Davitt Moroney
Davitt Moroney
Davitt Moroney is a British-born and educated musicologist, harpsichordist and organist. His parents were of Irish and Italian extraction – his father was an executive with the Anglo-Dutch Unilever conglomerate...
's alternative numbering scheme, which attempts to create suites out of Couperin's dances.
The numbering scheme for Couperin's organ pieces also reflects their source, the Oldham manuscript. Here, however, no attempt was made by the copyist to group pieces in any way. The manuscript draws on at least two grands livres d'orgue, and the copyist apparently chose pieces arbitrarily. Distinguishing the many fantaisies is made easier, however, because Couperin would frequently provide the date, and sometimes the place of composition in a footnote. Numbers 11 and 19, for instance, are both titled "fugue
Fugue
In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
", but the former is inscribed "Couperin a Meudon le 18e Juillet [July] 1656", and the latter "Couperin a paris le 1er 7ber [September] 1656". This extraordinary feature, which is completely unique for the period, allows tracing Couperin's development as organ composer from 1650 to 1659, sometimes almost day by day.
Harpsichordist Skip Sempé, as well as a few scholars, have questioned the attribution of both the harpsichord pieces of the Bauyn manuscript and the organ pieces of the Oldham manuscript to Couperin, on stylistic grounds.
Harpsichord music
Dance movements comprise around two thirds of Louis Couperin's harpsichord oeuvre; they include couranteCourante
The courante, corrente, coranto and corant are some of the names given to a family of triple metre dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era....
s, sarabande
Sarabande
In music, the sarabande is a dance in triple metre. The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of quarter notes and eighth notes in alternation...
s, allemande
Allemande
An allemande is one of the most popular instrumental dance forms in Baroque music, and a standard element of a suite...
s and gigue
Gigue
The gigue or giga is a lively baroque dance originating from the British jig. It was imported into France in the mid-17th century and usually appears at the end of a suite...
s (in decreasing order of numbers). These pieces are more complex than those by Chambonnières and display more variety within an individual piece. His reputation as a composer comes mainly from his chaconne
Chaconne
A chaconne ; is a type of musical composition popular in the baroque era when it was much used as a vehicle for variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short repetitive bass-line which offered a compositional outline for variation, decoration, figuration and...
s, passacaglia
Passacaglia
The passacaglia is a musical form that originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is still used by contemporary composers. It is usually of a serious character and is often, but not always, based on a bass-ostinato and written in triple metre....
s and unmeasured prelude
Unmeasured prelude
Unmeasured or non-measured prelude is a prelude in which the duration of each note is left to the performer. Typically the term is used for 17th century harpsichord compositions that are written without rhythm or metre indications, although various composers of the Classical music era were...
s. These latter pieces, written out in a unique kind of notation (whole notes only, arranged in groups and connected by graceful curves) are influenced by Froberger's free-flowing allemandes and programmatic pieces, some borrow short passages from his toccatas.
Organ music
Couperin's organ music exerted a great influence over the 17th century European composers; it represents the transition from the strict counterpoint in the TitelouzeJean Titelouze
Jean Titelouze was a French composer, poet and organist of the early Baroque period. His style was firmly rooted in the Renaissance vocal tradition, and as such was far removed from the distinctly French style of organ music that developed during the mid-17th century...
vein to the colorful, concertant organ style introduced by Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers
Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers
Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers was a French organist, composer and theorist. His first livre d'orgue is the earliest surviving collection with traditional French organ school forms...
and Nicolas Lebègue
Nicolas Lebègue
Nicolas Lebègue was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was born in Laon and in 1650s settled in Paris, quickly establishing himself as one of the best organists of the country. He lived and worked in Paris until his death, but frequently made trips to other cities to...
, who influenced late Baroque composers such as François Couperin
François Couperin
François Couperin was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as Couperin le Grand to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented Couperin family.-Life:Couperin was born in Paris...
and Nicolas de Grigny
Nicolas de Grigny
Nicolas de Grigny was a French organist and composer. He died young and left behind a single collection of organ music, which together with the work of François Couperin, represents the pinnacle of French Baroque organ tradition.-Life:Nicolas de Grigny was born in 1672 in Reims in the parish of...
. Couperin was the first French composer to write for specific registrations and also the first to compose leaping division basses in the style of divisions for the bass viol. Both of these stylistic traits are among the defining characteristics of French organ music of the 17th and the 18th centuries.
Editions
- Louis Couperin: Oeuvres de clavecin. Second modern edition, edited by Davitt MoroneyDavitt MoroneyDavitt Moroney is a British-born and educated musicologist, harpsichordist and organist. His parents were of Irish and Italian extraction – his father was an executive with the Anglo-Dutch Unilever conglomerate...
. Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre, Monaco, OL 58 (1985, reprinted in 2004). Moroney omits the ornaments included in the first edition, since they were not contemporary with Louis Couperin. Moroney's lengthy introduction is, to date, the best biographical source on Couperin in English. - Louis Couperin: Pièces d' orgue. Transcribed and edited by Guy Oldham. Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre, Monaco, OL 300 (2003). 144 pages. This volume contains the musical text of 70 pieces, "as well as the relevant plainchant melodies with their texts to facilitate alternatim performance, a facsimile page, editor's notes, and a Critical Commentary." A companion publication is planned, consisting of extended prefatory material, including a technical description of the source, information on the organs played by Louis Couperin, and suggestions for performance.
General information
- Louis Couperin biography at HOASM (the portrait included is not Couperin's)
- Louis Couperin biography at musicologie.org