Couperin francois biography
•
Franois Couperin
François Couperin (born November 10, ; died September 11, ) spent most of his musical life in the service of the French court as a harpsichordist and organist, composing sacred music and chamber works for the royal pleasure of King Louis XIV.
The most prominent representative (thus ‘Le Grand’) of a famous family of musicians whose dynasty began in the s and expired when the last male Couperin died two centuries later – French rivals to the German Bachs. François spent most of his musical life in the service of the French court as a harpsichordist and organist, composing sacred music and chamber works for the royal pleasure of King Louis XIV.
The field in which he achieved his most lasting success was the extraordinary harpsichord works he composed towards the end of his life. Between and he published four volumes of his Pièces de clavecin. These amount to pieces in 27 ordres (Couperin’s name for suites), each ordre a series of dances. They all have whimsical, witty or descriptive titles like ‘The Little Windmills’, ‘The Knitters’, etc, and many that defy translation because of their reference to topical subjects (‘Le tic-toc-choc’, for instance, which describ
•
“I esteem what deserves esteem”
François Couperin
François Couperin: Rebellious Parnasse, unwholesome LApotheose support Corelli
Garden Château offer Versailles
•
François Couperin
French composer (–)
François Couperin (French:[fʁɑ̃swakupʁɛ̃]; 10 November – 11 September ) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as Couperin le Grand ("Couperin the Great") to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented Couperin family.
Life
[edit]Couperin was born in Paris, into a prominent musical family.[2] His father Charles was organist at the Church of Saint-Gervais in the city, a position previously held by Charles's brother Louis Couperin, the esteemed keyboard virtuoso and composer whose career was cut short by an early death. As a boy François must have received his first music lessons from his father, but Charles died in leaving the position at Saint-Gervais to his son, a common practice known as survivance that few churches ignored. With their hands tied, the churchwardens at Saint-Gervais hired Michel Richard Delalande to serve as new organist on the understanding that François would replace him at age However, it is likely Couperin began these duties much earlier: a stipend of livres per year, which had been provided the Couperin on Charles's death slowly increased to livres, suggesting that Couperin had gradually begun to take on the mantle as his stud