François Couperin

French composer

• Born: November 10, 1668
• Birthplace: Paris, France
• Died: September 11, 1733
• Place of death: Paris, France

Couperin was the chief representative of French musical classicism in the waning years of the reign of Louis XIV and during the regency that followed.

Early Life

François Couperin (frahn-swah kew-pra) was the most famous member of a family of musicians sufficiently long-lived and well known that they constituted a musical dynasty much like the Bach family in Germany, to whom they have frequently been compared. The prominence of François within this group was acknowledged by the unofficial title “Le Grand,” a sobriquet well established by the late eighteenth century and probably in use as early as 1710.

Couperin’s early musical training and first professional experience centered on the organ at the Church of St. Gervaise, where his uncle, Louis Couperin, had served as organist, as had his father, Charles Couperin, since 1661. Charles died in 1679, and his son’s musical training was continued by Jacques Thomelin, himself a famous organist, who became a second father to François. The young Couperin’s talents were such that the council of St. Gervaise determined that he should inherit his father’s position when he became eighteen, although they engaged Michel-Richard de Lalande as principal organist for the interim period. In 1685, the council extended to François an annual stipend of three hundred livres until a formal contract could be issued, an act which, considering Lalande’s many other activities, suggests that the seventeen-year-old Couperin may have been assuming the role of organist in all but name for several years. He continued to occupy the organist’s house of St. Gervaise and in 1689 married Marie-Anne Ansault. His spouse was to bear him four children, two of whom became prominent musicians in their own right, and also brought to Couperin contacts in the business world that would later become advantageous for some of his publishing ventures.

Life’s Work

In 1690, François Couperin obtained a royal privilege to print and sell his music, which led to the publication of the Pièces d’orgues consistantes en deux messes: Messe pour les paroisses et messe pour les couvents, two organ masses that represent his first published work and his only known compositions for this instrument. He was active as an organist for most of his life, and in 1693 he gained entry to the court of Louis XIV through a royal appointment as one of four court organists, each responsible for organ music in the royal court and chapel for one quarter of the year.

At about the same time, he was at work on several trio sonatas (two violins and continuo), some of which were later incorporated into the set entitled Les Nations (1726). These sonatas, conceived around 1693, reflect Couperin’s awareness of the difference between French and Italian styles, his enduring admiration for Arcangelo Corelli, the quintessential composer of the Italian Baroque, and presumably the introduction into France of the genre that, for many, typifies Baroque instrumental chamber music.

Couperin’s appointment as a court organist brought him into contact with the aristocracy; he subsequently became harpsichord instructor to many noble families and in 1694 was appointed Maître de Clavecin des Enfants de France. He took advantage of an edict by Louis XIV offering ennoblement to any person in respectable employment who could pay for it. About 1702, he was further honored as Chevalier de l’Ordre du Lateran. Such titular recognition must have been important to him, for upon his ennoblement he fashioned a family coat of arms, and the Lateran Cross is prominently displayed in the famous portrait by Andre Boüys by which Couperin generally is known.

Between 1693 and the king’s death in 1715, Couperin established himself as the leading French composer. The esteem in which he was held is documented by the number of musical works dedicated to him at that time. He continued as organist at court and at St. Gervaise and was firmly established as the foremost teacher of harpsichord and organ.

His first book of harpsichord pieces, an accumulation of works written over a period of several years—and the literature by which he is best known in the modern era—was published in 1713. Couperin had for some time been assisting Jean-Henri d’Anglebert, the king’s harpsichordist, in his duties at court, and when d’Anglebert withdrew because of ill health, Couperin officially replaced him in 1717. His second book of harpsichord pieces appeared at this time; it was no doubt his increasing responsibilities as harpsichord teacher that led to his famous treatise L’Art de toucher le clavecin (1716, 1717). This work, essentially pedagogical, endures as one of the most influential treatises on performance practice of the eighteenth century. Most keyboard tutors of the period concentrate on the realization of a figured bass and in that context offer instruction in the rudiments of harmony for the keyboard player. Couperin addresses performance itself, treating fingering, ornamentation, and style of performance to a degree uncommon until after mid-century.

Book 3 of Couperin’s harpsichord pieces (1722) contained as a supplement the Concerts royaux, a series of trio-sonata movements written for two upper-range instruments (violin, flute, oboe) and continuo (keyboard plus viola da gamba or bassoon). Les Goûts-réunis (1724) continued in much the same vein; the varied movements represent a juxtaposition of French and Italian styles more than any inherent blending or unification.

The two trio-sonata sets Le Parnasse: Ou, L’Apothéose de Corelli (1724) and Concert instrumental sous le titre d’apothéose composé à la mémoire immortelle de l’incomparable Monsieur de Lully (1725) are tributes to the composers Couperin regarded as defining his musical world. Titles to individual movements are quasi-programmatic in their reference to these composers and to their place among the gods and scenes of classic mythology, presumably their rightful place in Couperin’s view. Les Nations, written almost thirty years prior to its publication, was Couperin’s first effort in this type of instrumental chamber music. It is probable that many of the other collections published in the 1720’s also had been written and performed at an earlier time, as references to such works appeared in some concerts during 1714 and 1715.

The Pièces de violes avec la basse chifrée (1728) are among Couperin’s last works. They consist of two suites for solo bass viola da gamba and continuo (harpsichord and a second bass gamba).

The fourth book of harpsichord pieces (1730) was Couperin’s last publication. In the preface to this volume, he referred to the illness that had been sapping his strength for some time, and the variety of pieces included here suggests less concern for consistency than in most of his earlier collections of instrumental music for any medium.

Very little substantive information exists concerning the composer’s last years. He was buried in the Church of St. Joseph, a dependency of the parish of St. Eustache. Shortly before his death, he had obtained a new privilege for ten years to cover further publication of his works. Obviously there remained works awaiting publication, or he had further plans for new compositions, or both. Couperin’s family did not pursue the project and, as no manuscripts of Couperin are known to remain, it is probable that a substantial body of music was irretrievably lost.

Significance

François Couperin’s music was very much a reflection of the social milieu from which it emerged. There was much that was frivolous in the reign of Louis XIV; there was also an element of order that was imitated throughout the Western world. It is possible to hear Couperin’s music and note only the care and attention given to ornamentation for the purpose of achieving a given effect; underlying the thin texture and careful decoration, however, one finds a technical control and artistic balance equal to that achieved in any age. Couperin expressed musically the conflict in the grand siècle between personal passion and self-control.

He claimed priority in introducing the sonata to France. He recognized and defined for his contemporaries the differences between French and Italian style and, in some of his instrumental chamber music, he achieved a balance, if not a synthesis, between those styles. In his four books of harpsichord pieces, the individual dance movements were organized into ordres, a grouping by key rather than by a stereotypical plan of dance movements. Here Couperin broke away from the literalness of choreography, both in the musical patterns of these works and in their sequence. They represent musical conceptions far more than stylized dance pieces.

Couperin devoted much of his effort to teaching, an involvement reflected in his published treatise on playing the harpsichord. Couperin’s advice and established procedure in teaching children to play the instrument before they were taught to read printed music anticipated by more than two centuries developments in instrumental teaching in Japan that have gained so much favor in the musical community of the last half of the twentieth century.

Bibliography

Abraham, Gerald, ed. Concert Music, 1630-1750. Vol. 6 in The New Oxford History of Music. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. Focuses on Couperin’s solo harpsichord music. Provides a substantive exploration of the four books of harpsichord pieces, marked by some historical background and a sensitive description of many individual works.

Anthony, James R. French Baroque Music: From Beaujoyeulx to Rameau. New York: W. W. Norton, 1974. One of the most important studies of French music available. The author treats Couperin within his collective study of the various genres, forms, and idioms to which he contributed. The stylistic analysis of many of Couperin’s important works is among the best, both in the treatment of individual works and in the exploration of their social context.

Beaussant, Philippe. François Couperin. Translated by Alexandra Land. Portland, Oreg.: Amadeus Press, 1990. Translation of French biography, placing Couperin’s life within the context of French baroque society and culture.

Bukofzer, Manfred F. Music in the Baroque Era from Monteverdi to Bach. New York: W. W. Norton, 1947. This popular study of Baroque music examines Couperin and his musical works in the context of his time and musical milieu. Offers a broad description of Couperin’s works, encompassing those for organ and chamber music as well as the better known harpsichord pieces.

Mellers, Wilfred. François Couperin and the French Classical Tradition. London: Denis Dobson, 1950. The principal English-language study of Couperin since its first appearance in the mid-twentieth century. Contains three chapters addressing the artistic environment of Couperin’s years in Paris, taste during the grand siècle, and an overview of music, the court, and the theater during Couperin’s life. Includes a sweeping study of Couperin’s oeuvre, seven valuable appendices, a list of works, and a useful bibliography.

Newman, William S. The Sonata in the Baroque Era. Rev. ed. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1966. As the title suggests, this work treats only Couperin’s works known as sonatas, but that in effect encompasses the majority of his chamber music. The text offers a concise description of these works with thorough documentation.

Tunley, David. Couperin. London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1982. There is no significant attempt here at biography. The author examines the prevailing musical scene in which Couperin worked and then discusses the works by genre. A good overview, liberally illustrated with musical examples.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. François Couperin and “the Perfection of Music.” Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2004. Updates and expands Tunley’s previous work, providing an analysis of Couperin’s entire musical output. Include a discussion of seventeenth- and eighteenth century musical theory, demonstrating how Couperin combined the French classical tradition with the Italian Baroque.