The Classical Music Book

83

A young girl learns to play the

harpsichord in The Music Lesson

by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. François

Couperin taught music to Louis XIV’s

children at Versailles.

See also: Micrologus 24–25 ■ Scarlatti’s Sonata in D minor 90–91 ■

Musique de table 106 ■ Clementi’s Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor 132–133

BAROQUE 1600 –1750

a complete course, but advice for

the player on body postures and

technical issues. It included a

series of eight preludes for study

and fingerings for some of

Couperin’s published pieces.

Particularly forward-looking

are his suggestions that children

should master a few pieces before

learning to read music and that

practice should be supervised.

These ideas anticipated some

modern approaches to music

education, such as the Suzuki

method in the mid-20th century. ■

François Couperin

Even within the dynasty of

great musicians into which

he was born in 1668, François

Couperin was extraordinary.

Appointed on the death of

his father, Charles, to take

over the role of organist at

St. Gervais Church in Paris

at the tender age of 11, he

went on to become one

of the most sought-after

performers and teachers in

France. In 1693, Couperin

was appointed by Louis XIV

as organist at the Royal

Chapel. He became court

harpsichordist to Louis XV in

1717 and composed works for

the royal family. He died in

Paris in 1733.

Couperin’s series of

Ordres for keyboard are

considered some of the most

significant contributions to

Baroque harpsichord music.

Players of the instrument

today still study L’a r t d e

toucher le clavecin in order

to inform their performances.

Other key works

1713–1730 24 Ordres (in

four books)

1714 –1715 Les concerts

royaux (The Royal Concerts)

1724 –1725 Apothéoses

later generations. His style was

not to everyone’s taste—while J.S.

Bach arranged some of Couperin’s

works, he is said to have found

them overly fussy.

Such reliance on ornamentation

tends to mean that Couperin’s

music translates less well onto the

modern piano, which, with its fuller

and more sustained sound, makes

the decoration too prominent. This,

coupled with his dislike of overt

virtuosity and harmonic daring

(such as sudden key changes or

clashing notes), may explain why

his music has been eclipsed by

Scarlatti’s in the concert hall.

Although not the first treatise on

keyboard playing, Couperin’s L’ a r t

de toucher le clavecin was one of

the most important, offering not

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